Phantasm
by LivingFire
Summary: After the death of Sonic, Amy has tried to move on, even after nine years pass. Her heart makes room for Shadow, but when a new enemy, Phantasm, shows up, it's hard to keep straight what's real and what's not.
1. Chapter 0

** This is my first story on fanfiction! I'm not asking you to go easy on me. This is a ShadAmy story, although it starts out in Tails' POV. I didn't want to put that in the summary. I rated it T to start with but I'm not going to hold back on language. I really don't think I should have to up the rating because of that.**

** The ages are a little messed up because I used some of the video game ages and some from the comic book. Sonic is 17. Tails is 8. Cream is 6. Amy is 12. Shadow is... Well 50 something years old but physically 18. Rouge is 17. The ages will change in the next chapter anyways. I'm changing a few details, kind of making it my own world instead of going by exactly what the game and comic books say, which is what I'm basing most of it off of. I think a few of the most obvious changes is that all of the characters have hair, kind of like people and they wear clothes. It's just weird they run around in nothing but gloves and shoes. If your not going to wear clothes, why wear gloves anyways? I hope you enjoy. I'd like you to review please, I want to know how I'm doing.**

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Chapter 0.

The End: Prelude to the Epilogue

~ Miles "Tails" Prower (Day -3499) ~

Tails watched. That was all he could do. Watch as the airship burst into pieces as it crashed below him. The impact shook the trees, Tails could see that from his plane, which he now was trying to land nearby the crash. His ears were pounding from the boom. Metal was scattered everywhere. Helplessly, flames rose up from the debris. Cracking and sizzling echoed through the vacant night after the bloodcurdling noises the explosion made. The starless night glowed red. Tails could feel the fire's radiance as he landed a good distance away from the rubble. It didn't even look like the airship it was anymore. Just a bunch of scrap metal.

It wasn't just any crash Tails had just witnessed. It was the death of his worst enemy. Hated by everyone, Dr. Ivo Robotnik was finally gone.

But he didn't go alone.

"It's not possible..." Tails whispered to himself. No matter what, he always found a way to pull himself through the rubble. It just wasn't logical that he could be gone. He must have escaped the plane right before the crash. He must have found some way to protect himself from the impact and explosion. He must have _some way _to come through.

Tails watched the fire dance, stretching along the metal, untouchable. Unstoppable. It burned his eyes just watching the surreal gas deteriorating everything in it's grasp. The metal turned bright red and the wood turned black.

Before he flew away from the ship, Tails called out to Sonic. But he said he had unfinished business. He must have had a way to escape. Unless he didn't know it was going to crash...

"Sonic!" Tails called out to the debris. His best friend? His older brother? His hero? Gone? He would have fallen over laughing. Sonic was _indestructible_.

So it seemed.

Tails ran out into the fire, knowing he was risking his own life. What if Sonic was still alive, barely breathing? Any second could be his last. Any moment could be one moment too late. "_Sonic!_" He called again. He choked on the fumes spilling out around him. "S-Sonic."

Everything was a mixture of black, red and yellow. He couldn't tell if he was going deeper into the fire or if he had turned around and was heading back to his plane.

A flame lit scrap of metal fell from above him, crashing down onto his back.

Suddenly, it had seemed that the fire had gone out. He couldn't see anything but the darkness.

~ Amy Rose ~

At 2 a.m. that night, Amy's phone started to buzz on her bed side table. She was already awake, staring at the ceiling. Nothing in particular had kept her up that night, just lingering thoughts, worries and hopes. She sighed, grabbing her cell phone and looking at the caller ID. Knuckles.

She sat up in bed, alert. Knuckles never called her, _ever _because he just wanted to talk. Something important had happened.

"Hello?" Her voice high, even for her.

Knuckle's voice was abnormally gentle. "Amy? Uh- Well Sonic-"

"Sonic? What happened to Sonic?"

"I found what I think is Eggman's plane... Or airship... Whatever. It was crashed on Angel Island. Tails is, um, hurt. Badly. He's unconscious but alive."

Amy's heart quickened to a pace it had only achieved few other times. "What about _Sonic?_" She urged him to go on. "What happened to him?"

Knuckles paused, seeming to be hesitant. "He- Look, can you come over here. With a doctor. You're the first person I thought to call and we need someone here _soon. _There aren't any doctors up her."

"Tell me what happened to Sonic!"

"He's..."

"Go on."

"Dead."

"I'll be there as soon as possible."

Sonic's dead. Ha. Nice _joke. _The thought was bitter in Amy's mind. Her sunken heart had started up again, threatening to breaking through her chest with it's life threatening throbs.

She tossed the bedsheets to the side. _Why am I just sitting here? This is important! Tails needs help! _

Amy quickly changed into a dress she picked randomly from her closet and slipped on her a pair of red flip flops. She combed her quills out hastily and brushed through her light pink hair. Soon, she was out the door, into her car and zooming down the streets of the city.

Her only thoughts as she drove was that she needed to get to the hospital and how she probably looked like shit without her hair flat ironed or her makeup on.

Somehow, about a half hour later, she ended up in front of a hospital. She paid no attention to which wing she was entering through, she just tumbled into the room and marched up to the receptionist. "We need a doctor up at Angel island! _Fast!" _

It occurred to Amy that she wasn't even exactly sure what was wrong with Tails.

"Calm down! Now what's the problem little... Hedgehog? Can't ever tell what you animal things are." The receptionist, Amy now saw, was a blond haired human female. The hospital cared for both human and animal patients.

Amy gave a huff and replied, sharply. "Yes. And my friend was on Eggman's airship-"

"Dr. Robotnik?"

"Yes." She snapped back, irritated. "The airship crashed, and my friend, Tails, he was _on _it. He's hurt. Get some one up to Angel Island to help him!"

The receptionist just blinked. "What's your name?"

"Amy Rose." _Man is this lady not getting it or what?_

"That girl who's always chasing Sonic around?" The receptionist looked like she was laughing with her pale blue eyes. They were caked with blue eyeshadow.

Amy's fingernails dug into the counter, sending pain shooting through her hands. She didn't care. "Can I just get a doctor or _what?"_

The receptionist seemed to _finally _be getting it. "I'll see if I can get you someone."

Amy ended up sitting in a chair in the waiting room,her mind now unoccupied. She spent the time chipping the nail polish off of her nails, her attention fully on getting the chunk off. Her thoughts refused to venture elsewhere and Amy was okay with that. She knew she should be worried about Tails. She knew she should be sad about what happened – _if _it happened – to Sonic. But her mind was glued to her fingernail polish and now, at this realization, how selfish she was.

"Ms.? Did you need a doctor?" I looked up to see light yellow humming bird in a white coat and short messy hair.

Amy leaped to her feet, nodding. "My friend does. He's on Angel Island."

"Do you have a way to get up there?" He asked, heading towards the door. Amy followed at her side.

"Um..." She blushed with realization. "No you see, I just got a call from my friend..."

"If you have a way to get to the general area I might be able to carry us up there. I might have to go back down later for my equipment and medicine." He replied, understanding. He flapped his wings slightly, as if already preparing to fly up there.

Amy nodded, even noticing herself that she was being unusually quiet the rest of the trip over there.

~ Knuckles the Echidna ~

On one side of Knuckles, Tails laid. His furry white chest fell up and down, not too quickly, not too slowly, but at a perfectly normal pace. It didn't help Knuckles' state of panic very well, glancing over at who was on his other side, laying on the ground. Maybe he should cover him up before anyone gets here, so that it isn't taken as too much of a shock.

Knuckles relived the memory of finding the body under the rubble, fur was disintegrated and skin was the color of coal. His right arm was twisted out of place, shoulder and elbow both obviously dislocated, crushed under a chunk of metal, barely cool after the fire. His head was cracked open, blood in a puddle behind his head.

It was an image that no one should have to see.

Knuckles looked over at the body, just for a second, before his head turned away. Surely, Knuckles had seen gruesome sights before, but this was different. To see someone he considered his friend – although they had their troubles in the beginning – _dead _didn't make him flinch because it was hard on the eyes, far from it. It was because he couldn't stand the thought of him being dead. A hero. A friend. An annoying brat. Someone who leaped into action without knowing the depth of the situation. Someone with a pure heart. Someone who had beings who loved him and beings who he loved.

He shut his eyes for a moment, feeling for the first time his true loss. Feeling his heart sink inside of him. He would miss the speedy little hedgehog.

Opening his eyes again, he realized Amy would be here soon with a doctor. Quickly, he looked around the room for an extra blanket. He had already covered Tail's in all of the covers he had from his bed. He walked down the hallway in search of one that he might have forgotten he even had.

He heard a knocking on the door.

_Come on there has to be one somewhere. _Suddenly panicked, Knuckled pulled out an old comforter he found in his closet and headed back into the other room.

"Knuckles?" I heard called from out of the door.

He hurried back down the hall, knowing that the front door lead into his bedroom, where Tails now slept.

It was too late. Amy had already come in through the door and was now staring at the chard and out of place body of Sonic the Hedgehog, laying limply on the bed, eyelids shut, cold. Dead.

~ Shadow the Hedgehog (Day -3288) ~

Shadow found himself sitting around, doing nothing but listening to Rouge comment and complain about little things, like how increasingly hot it was getting that day, sometime in the middle of July. The air condition was blasting and the ceiling fan was on, but Rouge still found it too warm for her not to whine about it. Shadow just listened to her muse, maybe replying when she asked him a direct question or said something that caught his interest for a few seconds. He found this was becoming a routine lately. There wasn't anything to do.

Since Sonic and Eggman died about seven months ago their usual flow of missions given to them by G.U.N. have slowed to almost a complete stop. Shadow had to admit that he was getting bored with the absence of adventure. Every now and then something would happen, but not often enough or big enough. It had come down to tracking down major robbers and murderers, but even the toughest were hardly a challenge.

The lack of things to do was exactly why he was slightly startled when there was a knocking on his bedroom door, located in G.U.N. headquarters. Rouge let a half of a smile show on her face. Shadow knew she was hoping that they had a mission for the both of us and not just him.

He got up quickly and opened the door to see the G.U.N. commander himself. "Shadow. I need to talk to you in private."

Shadow shrugged and followed him out the door. He heard Rouge give a heavy sigh behind him.

After a while of walking, he found himself in a small room with a table and set of chairs. On top of the metal table was something that looked like a basket filled with blankets. He didn't get to ponder what it was for long, because the commander started talking.

"I'm sure you've heard, _somewhere_, that Princess Sally Acorn had given birth last week."

Shadow nodded. "It's hard not to have, but what about it?"

The commander continued. "First off, it wasn't the prince-soon-to-be-king's like everyone believes. Second, there wasn't just one of them, they were twins. Before she was married, when they were just engaged and hadn't announced it to the public yet, it seems she had at least _some _sort of relationship with Sonic the hedgehog. It's his kids. Not even her husband knows that. She had them in private. Her daughter, the one she kept, looks enough like her that no one would be able to guess that it's someone other than her husband's. But her son is an entirely different story. So far me and her doctor – Dr. Quack – even know of his existence."

Shadow's eyes fell on the bundle of blankets in the basket again, noticing now, that they slowly rose and fell as if someone was breathing underneath. He heard tiny breathes, barely noticeable while the commander talked. It wasn't a question what was under there anymore. "And?"

"The princess wanted us to find him a new family for him. Not only did she not want to upset her family, the prince especially, but she felt that she would be frowned upon all of her mobians if they knew the truth. You understand that we had to obey the princess."

Shadow nodded. "And you want me to find a family for him?"

The commander shook his head, picking up the pile of blankets from the basket, revealing the head of what looked almost _exactly _like Sonic the hedgehog, sleeping soundly, wrapped in a fuzzy white blanket. "No Shadow. _You're _going to be his new family."

"I'm... What?" Shadow hissed, taken aback.

"The princess didn't ask for just _anyone _to take care of the child, but for someone I trust." He replied, cradling the miniature blue hedgehog in his arms.

"And you chose _me? _Do you seriously think I could take care of him? Besides, he would only get in my way." Shadow retorted, unable to _imagine _taking care of that child. Just because Sonic died... And it was the princess' fault for cheating on her husband. Of course, that was unless it was Sonic's fault. But he had a hard time thinking that for obvious reasons, and then there's the fact that the hedgehog... Well, wasn't quite what you would call a prude, but he was a bit naïve if it ever came to that topic.

"Get in the way doing _what? _Admit it, your not that busy anymore, and you're one of my best agents. You're just going to have to learn to be a dad. Besides, I can't give him to a human family or even the family of another animal. No one's going to believe that, say, a pair of dogs had a hedgehog child."

"Wait. You're not only asking me to take care of the kid, but pretend to be _his father?" _

"That's the idea. What happens when he gets older and wants to know who his real parents are? You can't tell _anyone _he's not yours. We can't risk the truth getting out."

Shadow said, with slight irritation in his voice, "Won't someone wonder why he looks so much like Sonic? He's not exactly unknown."

"Maybe. But Sonic's not the only blue hedgehog to ever exist. In fact, it's not even uncommon. They'll just think he'll happen to resemble him. Besides, only a few people have seen him in person."

Shadow shook his head. "Get someone else to do it."

The commander struggled for a moment, then said, just before Shadow was about to turn out the door. "I'll give you a chaos emerald!"

"You can't wave jewels in my face and expect me to do tricks for you like Rouge." Shadow added, "I don't understand, wouldn't you prefer someone else. Maybe someone else who knows a little more about taking care of children?"

"I'll admit you're not the friendliest person out there..." The commander trailed off. "But I know you can be protective and you can be trusted. We can also keep tabs on what's going on if you take care of it, which would be harder if we decided to give it to someone outside of G.U.N.. Shadow, your our best option and, hey, it might even be good for you." He added, "Please Shadow, I'll give you anything you want."

Shadow thought for a moment. He didn't have anything he wanted. But maybe they could make a compromise. "Fine, I'll do it, but I ask of you one thing; You'll pay for anything that I'll ever get this kid. Every meal he eats, every diaper he wears, every toy he uses. Everything."

The commander took only a few seconds to consider it. "Yes, I think I can agree to that." He looked down at the sleeping hedgehog he still carried in his arms and held him out to Shadow. He took it awkwardly, taking a moment to figure out exactly how to hold it.

"So does he have a name?" Shadow asked. It was uncomfortable holding the warm body in his arms. He had already made himself comfortable, clutching his small fingers onto Shadow's tee-shirt a leaning his head against his chest.

"Manic. But I don't see why you can't change it if you want."

Shadow let out a huff of breath that sounded something like a laugh, or at least like he was amused. "Manic? Nice name." He said sarcastically. "But, I think I'll keep it. The princess must have had more of a reason for naming him that than the fact it rhymes with Sonic."

The commander gave half of a smile. "So if that's all, you can leave now. I'll have someone bring in a crib and a couple bottles and such tomorrow, but for tonight I think he'll be fine."

Shadow nodded and started heading back to his room, wondering what he had gotten himself into. He'd never hear the end of this from Rouge. And what if he's one of those babies that stay up all night crying? What about when he grows up?

"Your still in here?" Shadow asked when he got back to his room.

Rouge shrugged. "I wanted to know why he wanted to talk to you. Who's the baby? Let me guess. Someone went back in time and shrunk Sonic before he died and brought him back to you?"

"No." Shadow replied. "Get out of my room."

Rouge asked again, "No, really, why do you have that baby? He _does _look just like Sonic."

"It's..." He hasn't planned on having to do this so soon, but he had no choice. "Mine. He's my baby." The words felt weird in his mouth. He even felt his face heat up afterwords as Rouge's face lit up in shock. He struggled to hold back his awkward feelings, afraid he would already blow his cover.

"I'd think you're joking if I didn't know that you never joke... Who's the girl?"

Shadow paused, trying quickly to think of something. "It's no one you know. I... We broke up long before he was born. We only saw each other a few times. She... tried to contact me but I just ignored any time she called. She knew I worked for G.U.N. but not what I did. She took him here, because she couldn't take care of him and told them to give him to me."

Rouge blinked, looking just a little confused. She quickly regained her normal expression and smirked. "Well, goodnight... Daddy." She laughed slightly before leaving the room.

Shadow was right, he wouldn't hear the end of it. He looked back down at Manic, still asleep in his arms. It was hard to imagine such a name could be given to someone who just slept all the time. Shadow, gently, at least he hoped it was, pried his fingers from his shirt and looked around for some place he could set him down. He took the comforter of the top of his bed, it was too hot for it anyways, and set folded it up so it would be more like a cushion. He sat it on the table and placed Manic on top of it.

Shadow hoped that taking care of him would be that easy, but it was probably wistful thinking on his part. He climbed into bed and stared up at the ceiling, somehow feeling different than he had before.


	2. Chapter 1

**Okay, I was kind of stupid to start this story yesterday, because I'm going on vacation tomorrow and I won't be back until Friday, so I won't be able to post again until Saturday. Anyways, here's one more chapter before I go... It's SO HARD to keep Shadow in character! Also, I wanted to say that I kind of changed Manic's personality a little from the way he is in the Mobius X Years Later comics. But growing up in a different environment would at least change him a little, wouldn't it? Of course, part of it is genetics. At least I think so. Whatever. Stop making me talk so much it's making me nervous!**

**I also wanted to say thanks to ShadAmyLoverFan for giving me my first and only review XD I'm glad you enjoyed it and I hope you enjoy this chapter too.**

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Chapter 1.

Only Nine Years.

~ Amy Rose (Day -2) ~

Amy stared up at the ceiling. Looked at the clock. It's eleven pm. Looked back up at the ceiling. _Nothing to do, _she thought, absently, _and I can't sleep._

Cream was always with Tails these days. Last year they started going out. Cute couple. They _had _grown up together. It had only been a matter of time. Last time Amy saw Cream all she could talk about how awesome it is she gets to go with senior prom with Tails and how pretty her dress is. That's where they should be right about now.

That was one change that had happened in the past nine years. We all started going to school again. It wasn't that we hadn't had to do the _learning _part before. Sonic got paid a _lot _to do what he did. It wasn't the only reason why he did it, but it was sure helpful. Since me and Tails still had to go to school, Sonic got us a home school teacher, so we could learn on our schedule. Sonic didn't have to take any classes though. He dropped out of school as soon as he turned sixteen. But nothing much has happened since Eggman died and we had to go to school again, not to mention the lack of funding for it.

In school, Amy never really made any new friends. She met this one girl, she was a zebra. They were kind of friends, but usually she stuck with Cream and Tails. Much to the surprise of anyone who knew her nine years ago, she had become someone shy and reserved. She did okay for grades. A mix of A's, B's and C's. Mostly B's. She was big into sports she found. She participated in everything, including football and wrestling, although the coaches didn't like that much. Everyone said she was really fast and when she ran all they could see was a pink blur, ironically, but she could only run like that for a few seconds. She was a sprinter in track. Despite the complements, she never felt like she was fast enough.

Amy didn't have a job yet, although she was looking. Turns out, Sonic actually bothered to write a will, although it was pretty sloppy with tons of edits and added things. She guessed he might actually have thought that something could happen when he's fighting Eggman. He left a huge chunk of his savings to Amy, much to everyone's surprise. Things were different than other people and mobians depicted it to be. She wasn't always chasing Sonic and Sonic didn't run at the very sight of her. He even considered her one of his closer friends. But they both knew that Amy felt something a little more for Sonic than what he did. But he was always so nice and _subtle _when he rejected her. It left Amy with false hope. _Amy, I don't think we should go out. It would ruin our friendship if something were to happen. Amy, I just broke up with so and so, and I don't think I'm ready for another relationship. Amy, I'm sorry, but we can't go out because of this reason, and if I weren't so stubborn I could have tried going out a while back, but now it's too late and I'm too busy with this reason for a relationship. _

All excuses he had given her. Amy closed her eyes, trying to move her mind away from the topic. She returned back to her previous remembrance. He left Tails his house, although he never got to live in it because soon after Vanilla heard of Sonic's death she made Amy and Tails live with her and Cream, saying we were too young to be living alone and that we shouldn't have been letting "some 17 year old boy" take care of us. But when Amy decided to move out Tails let Amy live in the house. They decided that when Tails and Cream graduate they would come live with Amy.

Life was simple for Amy. She would go out and look for a job or go grocery shopping, but other than that she usually stayed in the house. No boys and not by choice. Not since middle school at least. But, she didn't really like to count those. It was never anything serious.

Amy got up, deciding to go for a jog and got up. Sure it was the middle of the night but that just upped the chances that she wouldn't come across someone she knew and have to talk to them. After tying her pink hair in a messy pony tails and putting sweats and sneakers on, Amy was out the door.

~ Manic the Hedgehog ~

"Dad!"

Manic saw his father cringe beside him, but he was used to that.

"Hm?" He replied, looking straight ahead as he slipped down the halls of this abandoned factory. "Keep your voice down."

"Sorry!" He whispered. "But, what are we doing here? You never told me."

"G.U.N. thinks they're is something suspicious going on here and wanted us to check it out. It's probably nothing, but they wanted you to go on a mission with me. They think you'd qualify for an agent one day."

"Cool!" Manic exclaimed, forgetting to whisper. His dad cringed again.

They crept down hallway after hallway, searching room after room, but nothing happened and there wasn't anything to see. It was just old equipment and dust everywhere. After a while, his dad thought is was safe enough to get out a flashlight, for Manic's sake, he added. He goes on sometimes about being the ultimate lifeform and stuff. One day Manic asked if being his son made him another ultimate lifeform and he said it did, but added not to let it go to his head.

Manic was starting to get tired after a while, but he wouldn't admit that. He wanted to impress his dad and all of the people at G.U.N.. He found himself imagining being the best agent at G.U.N., even better than his dad and Rouge! He would never be beaten, even by the toughest bad guys.

He was so lost in his daydream that he didn't even realize his dad had stopped, and had to backtrack slightly. He saw him typing things into a hand held device, his eyebrows pushed together as he focused on whatever he was doing.

"Hey, dad!"

"Yes, Manic."

"Whatcha doing?"

"Seeing if I can find a map of this place, to see if we missed somewhere." He pushed a few more buttons under the glow of the screen and looked up. "But I can't find anything. I guess we'll just have to go back home then."

"Oh." Manic asked, his voice filled with excitement, "Did I do good?"

Shadow nodded, his expression hidden in the darkness as he flicked off the screen. "Yes. You did."

Manic let a smile grow across his face. He couldn't wait until he was doing real missions!

~ Amy Rose (Day -1) ~

Amy checked her phone for the time. 12:19 am. _Wow, I guess it's been longer than I thought._

She started to turn around and head back towards the house. She had been jogging along this trail that went straight through the city, so she didn't have to think much to find her way back even in the dark. Amy changed the song playing on her MP3 and continued, letting her mind float away.

After ten more minutes of running, Amy paused and grabbed her water bottle that was latched onto a thick, black, belt around her waist that more resembled a seat belt. The night was quiet, and no one was on the road. She listened to herself breath heavily into her water bottle as she poured some into her mouth, swished it around a while, and spit it out. The last thing she needed was a side ache when she was an hour away from home.

That was when Amy realized that her breathing wasn't the only breathing she heard. "Uh, hello...?"

No answer. Amy felt her heart leap as she looked around wildly for the source of the breathing. It wasn't one, but two people/mobians she heard in the night. Amy felt slightly ashamed realizing that she wouldn't have been nearly this scared nine years ago. She would have been able to face anything without trembling. Almost anything, at least. But here she was, legs threatening to collapse under her, heart pounding and breath heavy. Part of it might have been the exercise. But she felt the fear crawling up her spine.

She saw two dark figures on the ground in the distance. She took her phone out and used it as a flashlight. She sucked in a deep breath she saw the bigger of the two to be none other than Shadow.

~ Shadow the Hedgehog ~

Okay. He was lost. Now what?

It seems like there _wasn't _an exit. He had the entire place memorized, every hallway, every room, every door was displayed like a map in his head. He'd done four laps around the building and still no sign of any exit. He _had _to be over looking something.

"Dad my feet hurt!" A high pitched whine sounded next to him.

"I know, Manic. We'll be out of here soon."

"That's what you said an half hour ago! Dad, my feet hurt and I'm tired and I haven't eaten since _breakfast. _We've been in here for _hours._"

Shadow gave a quiet sigh, stopped and scooped Manic into his arms. "You're getting _much _too big for this."

Manic rested his chin on Shadows shoulder and put his arms around his neck. "But you're strong enough! I bet you could lift up a whole entire car!"

He let out an amused, "Hm." He found himself silently enjoying the fact that he thought so highly of him. It was something he couldn't explain. Before Manic came along it seemed that no one's opinion of him mattered, the only thing that could get him down was himself. But what Manic thought of him... It had become the world to him. Why he cared what some little kid who wasn't even his own child thought of him, he asked himself often. He supposed that the commander was right. He _had _learned to be a father, whether he had intended to or not. He didn't know if he was a very good one, but Manic didn't seem _too _messed up so far.

"Uh... Hello?" A voice, high pitched even for a female, echoed in the distance, causing Shadow to freeze. He felt Manic tense up in his arms.

"Think you can walk from here?" Shadow asked his supposed son.

He nodded in response and unwrapped himself from Shadow. The pace they walked at quickened as they turned down the halls to where the voice was coming from.

"Shadow?"

How did she know his name?

"Shadow? Wake up!"

there was a flash of blinding light. After blinking a few times he looked over at Manic. He was... Gone? "Manic?"

He felt his body being shoved by an unseen force. "Wake up!"

Wait. Was he dreaming? It couldn't be _possible._

~ Amy Rose ~

"Shadow! Are you okay?" Amy felt relieved when she saw Shadow open his eyes, but still scared all the same. Why had he collapsed outside of this old factory? She was nervous, knowing she was going to find out.

Shadow blinked his eyes a few times. "... Amy?"

Amy nodded, knowing it had been, well, about nine years since they've seen each other. He was kind of surprised he even recognized her.

"Dad? What happened!" A voice sounded next to him, that almost sounded familiar. Almost.

Amy looked over at the figure at his side for the first time, shining her phone light on him. "S-Sonic?" It couldn't be. Her heart gave a thump. It wasn't possible.

"I get that a lot. The name's Manic. Manic the hedgehog!"

Amy blinked. It wasn't him. _Of course it wasn't. _"Déjà vu. Um. Who are you?"

Shadow answered for him. "He's my son. And he asked a very good question. What just _happened?"_

"I didn't know you had any kids... Especially ones that are blue..." Amy murmured. Louder, she said, "Shadow, I found you and... Manic on the ground, passed out. I was just out jogging when I found you."

Shadow looked incredibly confused, something Amy wasn't sure she's ever seen him be before. "But... I was just inside the factory. I-I couldn't have been _dreaming, _could I have?"

"Yeah... That's what I thought... Were we out here the entire time?" Manic said.

"Why were you guys out here anyways?" Amy asked, still not completely calm.

"We were on a top secret mission!" Manic announced.

Amy laughed slightly as Shadow said, "Well, it's not that much of a secret anymore. We... Should be getting home."

"Oh, okay." Amy said, getting up to her feet. She was starting to realize how cold it was getting out here.

"Are you very far from home? It's not good to be out here at night. There's been some crimes going on out here lately." Shadow asked.

"Oh, um, about a half hour away." Amy replied.

"I could take you home. To make sure your safe."

Amy looked down at her feet, not sure if she should accept. She _was_ far away from home... "Okay. Thanks for the offer. That's kind of... Unlike you Shadow."

Shadow shrugged. "Rouge says Manic's 'lightened me up' a lot. Don't expect much more from me though." He added, pointing across the street, "It's over there."

"Behind all those trees?"

"Dad says he doesn't want anyone knowing that he was there in case bad stuff happens!" Manic exclaimed. He jumped up in the air, and pretty damn high too. He was a hyper little guy...

Amy found herself looking at a motorcycle. "Um, how are all three of us going to fit on that?"

"I have a sidecar. It's full of equipment but Manic can fit."

Manic's upset expression showed in the street light. "Aw, why do _I _have to ride in the sidecar! I don't even know that lady!"

"Ms. Amy is my friend. Don't be rude."

The words sounded weird coming from Shadow's mouth. "Um, no it's okay... Ms. Amy?"

Shadow gave Amy a smirk and opened his mouth to speak before Manic interrupted him.

"She's not my mom is she?"

Shadow seemed as surprised by this accusation as Amy was. "No, of course not! Why would you think that?"

Manic shrugged, grabbing a helmet from the sidecar. "Dad, it could be anyone with the amount of information you give me. How do I know it's even a girl?"

"Well, your mother is a girl. There, that narrowed it down to about half the population." Shadow picked up the other helmet from the sidecar and offered it to Amy. "Here you take it."

"You don't need one?" Amy asked, feeling increasingly more awkward. A feeling that rarely left her lately when it came to people. Other than Cream and Tails. It was different with them.

Shadow shook his head. "No. I-"

"He's 'The Ultimate Lifeform' he can do everything." Manic's voice was sarcastic.

Shadow sighed and got onto the motorcycle. Feeling uncomfortable, Amy placed the helmet on her head and got on behind him. She hadn't ever ridden one before, but, of course, seen people ride them at some point of her life. She placed her arms around him, hoping that's what she was supposed to do.

"Hang on." Shadow murmured over his shoulder, Amy felt slightly relieved that she wasn't going to through a chaos spear at her for messing up or anything.

Okay, Amy had some problems. She'll admit that. But sometimes Shadow could be... Well, scary to her.

Shadow took off at a speed that made Amy's heart lurch. Her eyes began to water when the wind hit them. It took a while before she could open them enough to see the world rushing by her. After a few minutes, she calmed down enough to regain sense of what was going on. She blushed, slightly flustered, realizing just how close Shadow was to her and just how tightly she had her arms wrapped around him. She loosened her grip on him just a little, but it didn't feel very safe that way, so she hugged him tightly again. She could feel the warmth on his body, seeming even warmer than it probably was with the wind pelting her bare arms.

"I realized I don't know where you live." Shadow called back to Amy.

"What?" Amy answered.

"Where do you live?" Shadow asked again, louder.

"Oh, just keep going straight ahead. It's Sonic's old house."

Only a few more minutes passed until Shadow slowed to a stop. When Amy let go of Shadow quickly, flustered still from being so close. Shadow didn't bother to get off of the motorcycle.

"Uh, thanks." Amy said, quickly, hoping not to let her blush show. It was a good thing she's pink.

"Yeah. So, bye then." Shadow said, almost like he felt as uncomfortable as she did, but in his own way. His expression was still unchanged, all the same.

"Just one question. You have no idea what happened to you outside of the factory?" Amy asked, curious still.

Shadow looked uneasy. "I don't remember... I thought we went in the factory."

Without another word or second glance, Shadow left and Amy was left outside of her house in the cold night air.


	3. Chapter 2

**Okay, I'm a little later than I said I would, but hey, it's still Saturday right? I was too busy writing the last chapter! XD No it's not ending anytime soon, but I had every word made up in my head, exactly how it's going to happen, and I wanted to get it down before I forget it. It'll probably need a lot of editing, it's the last chapter and I'm not EXACTLY sure what's going to happen between now and then. I'm just going to say, there are a lot of surprises in store. **

**Anyways, back to this chapter. It's kinda slow in the beginning, but it'll get better... I hope? I feel like I rushed this chapter. I might have to take it down and repost it again with better writing. I hope I get some feedback :) **

**Also, I realized I've spelled Manic's name wrong! I've been using the character from the X Years Later stories in the comics, but I spelled it the way they do in Sonic Underground, which was what I used for reference when trying to spell the name. Oh well, it's done already and I'm not going back to change it. **

**Oh! And I promise I'll get to the romance-y part later on, I just want to get a lot of the plot set up first. **

**One last thing! (I keep thinking of stuff at the last minute! XD) I had a VERY hard time with Rouge, so I'm very sorry if she's out of character. Hopefully the events that happen will be a good excuse for that? I have a hard time keeping them all in character actually...**

**Okay, enough rambling about shit no one cares about! Here is the next chapter!**

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Chapter 2.

Phantasm.

~ Shadow the Hedgehog (Day 0) ~

"How'd the mission go?" Rouge asked, charging into Shadow's room without knocking. Shadow wasn't very surprised to see her, he usually stopped by to see him after getting home every night.

He didn't bother looking up from the book he was reading. "Fine."

Rouge grabbed a chair out from under the "dinning room" table and took a seat. They did let Shadow move into a bigger room after Manic started to get older. However, it still was pretty small. A few cabinets, a refrigerator and a microwave was crammed in the corner of the room. A few feet away from that, sat a square plastic table with three metal folding chairs around it. There was a couch and a decent sized TV on the other side of the room with a dvd player and game system of some sort – Manic's the one who uses it. There's a rack of dvd's and games beside it. There was a partial wall dividing the beds from the rest of the room. Against it was a desk, which was where Shadow was sitting.

It was small, especially for a kid like Manic, but he had the entire rest of the headquarters to run around. Although, some people _did _get pretty pissed at Shadow for letting him run around all over the place. But what else was he going to do? Tell the boy he can't play? He is only nine and even if Shadow never had much of a childhood, he had brief memories of playing with Maria on the ARK when he was first created. She was still so young and everyone on the ARK was an adult, far past playing such immature games like tag and hide and go seek. When Maria got a little older they would make up their own games and create an imaginary world. Even Shadow had a hard time believing he did some of the things he did. That time seemed so short-lived.

"Manic's first mission? Bet he was bouncing off walls the entire time." Rouge mused.

Shadow smirked at the comment, setting his book down. Looks like Rouge wasn't stopping by for a quick hello on her way back to her room. Of course, she usually started with small talk like this. But when something's bugging her she doesn't leave until she's got it off her chest, even if it takes her a while. Shadow's known her long enough to tell that this was the case tonight.

"No he was actually pretty good..." Shadow trailed off, starting to wonder about what really _did _happen.

"Hmm." Rouge hummed, studying my expression. "Did you find anything?"

Shadow hesitated before talking about it. "I don't know. We were just dreaming that we were in there... Both of us having the same dream. When we woke up we found that we were passed out outside of the factory, but I have no memory of anything that could have happened. We're both physically fine."

This information seemed to be startling to Rouge but her normal expression returned in a matter of seconds. "Where is Manic now?"

"He's with his friend somewhere. I think he's spending the night there."

"You don't know where your nine year old son is?" Rouge spoke, questioning his choice.

"I know he's in the building somewhere. That's good enough for me." Shadow responded, shrugging.

Rouge raised her eyebrows. "Is it? What if he got into trouble? It's a big place and you have no idea what he's doing."

"Rouge, he's with a friend for one. I know him and I don't think he's a bad kid. There are G.U.N. soldiers _everywhere _and agents like us. He's knows where and where he's not supposed to go. And, like you said, he's nine. What do you think he's doing? Smoking crack?" Shadow was slightly surprised at Rouge for accusing him like this. She's never said anything like this before, even when Manic was a baby and he had no clue how to even change a diaper let alone _want _to. Rouge was almost as clueless as he was when it came to kids and she cares about the same as he did before Manic came along.

She looked away from Shadow. "No, I'm sorry. Knuckles... Broke up with me earlier. Left me for that pink haired freak."

"Amy?" Shadow asked, the first thing that came to mind when she said pink hair. He thought back to earlier, when she found him and Manic...

"Huh? Oh no. Some echinda named Julie-Su." She looked back over at Shadow, her eyes full of... sadness. He knew it took a lot to make Rouge upset.

"Oh. I'm sorry..." Shadow had no idea what to do in a situation like this. He had no idea what it even felt like to break up with someone or be with someone in the first place.

Rouge halfheartedly shrugged then looked back up at Shadow. "I know it's _you _I'm asking, but can I have a hug?"

Shadow hesitated for a moment. "Uh, sure." He stood up to walk towards Rouge, but she met him halfway. She threw her arms around his waist. He was taken aback by this, but after a second returned the hug, feeling uncomfortable with how tight she was holding him and how she rested her head on his chest. After a few seconds, Shadow tried to let go but Rouge still held onto him.

"Come on Shads, why are you always so against physical contact. It's not like you don't have experience with much more than this." Obviously referencing to the events that created Manic. She never did let that go. If only she could tell her the truth... But he couldn't risk that now. If he told her, she might try and tell Manic. He trusted Shadow. He might not ever forgive him if he knew they weren't even _related._

"Rouge that was a long time ago." Shadow said pulling her arms off of him and taking a step back. The upset expression on her face had disappeared and it became obvious she wanted more than a hug.

She stepped towards him again and Shadow tried to step back only to find that the couch was behind him. Rouge pushed him backwards, catching him off guard, and onto the couch.

"Damn it, Rouge, get off of me!" Shadow growled as Rouge fell onto his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Shadow, please, I need this." Rouge whispered, running her hands down his chest.

He pulled her hands away from him again. "I'm sure you could find someone else."

She smiled and pushed her lips onto his. Shadow backed his head up into the seat, but she just moved her head with him. He twisted his head to the side to escape the kiss. Rouge didn't give up there. She moved her head down to his neck, pressing her lips against it, nibbling on it lightly.

"Rouge. I meant it when I told you to _stop." _

She ran her fingers across his stomach, letting her fingers trace the skin along the waistband of his pant. "If you don't want me to do this then why does your breath hitch when I do this? Stop fighting it Shadow."

"Rouge!"

She moved her hands back up to his shoulders and pulled her body away from him. _"Fine."_

Of course, Manic chose that exact moment to walk in the room. Would you expect much else? "Um..."

Rouge just looked at him, surprised. "I thought you said he was at a friend's house tonight?"

Shadow pushed her off of him while she was distracted. "God damn it, just get off of me already!"

~ Manic the Hedgehog ~

"D-Dad?" Manic stared at him after he had shoved Rouge onto the floor. He seemed mad. Really mad. Maybe he shouldn't have come.

After a few flustered moments, Rouge had stomped out the door, obviously furious, and his dad was leaning against the wall, eyes closed, seemingly embarrassed. Manic took in a deep breath, preparing himself to be yelled at for walking in on him and Rouge... Doing weird stuff.

"So what is it Manic?" He asked, his voice calm. Calmer than usual. Which told him that his dad was only pretending not to be mad. Which was better than when he really is mad. He gets _really _scary when he yells.

"I came to grab a movie that we wanted to watch." Manic looked over at the rack next to the TV. "I guess I should go get it."

His dad did nothing but nod, his eyes still closed.

After selecting a movie from the collection, Manic turned back around and looked at his dad again. "Where you and Rouge baby-making?"

His dad's eyes shot wide open in surprise. "What? No! Of course not! How do you even...?" Manic would have doubted his dad was capable of blushing before then.

"Dad, you didn't _really _think I'd believe babies were made when two people loved each other a lot and wished really hard, did you? I asked Rouge and she told me the _truth._"

"When was this?"

"A few days ago."

His dad did nothing but made a low grumbling noise.

"That really sucks 'cause I wanted a brother." Manic ran his fingers around the rim of the DVD he had chosen, pretending to be preoccupied with the cover while he hinted to his dad.

"Oh." Was all he said, with an unreadable expression on his face. "Well, I suppose you should be getting back to your friend?"

"Wait! First, I was wondering. How do we look alike? I mean, I know we're both hedgehogs, but..."

His dad's shoulders loosened and his expression calmed down. "Well... We have the same eyes."

"But mine are blue and your are red?"

"I mean like the shape. It just doesn't look like it because I have red outlining the top, it makes them look more slanted than they are." He paused for a moment. "You have my speed too."

"That Sonic dude that everyone says I look like, he was really fast wasn't he? We learned about him in school the other day." Manic mused, not thinking much of the connection.

"Hm." He paused for a moment. "Are they really teaching you about him at school?"

"Yup! He's _so so so _cool! Did you know he can go fast the speed of sound?" Manic thought back to that day, feeling excitement thinking of how he managed to beat Perfect Chaos all by himself.

His dad looked at him, smirking slightly. "Yes, I do know that. I even got to race him once."

Manic felt his eyes widen. "Whoa! You knew Sonic the Hedgehog! That's so cool! He won of course, right?"

He just kept smirking, although he cringed a little when Manic said that. "We were pretty even matched. We never found out who won."

Manic thought about that for a while. Then something clicked in his head. Why he looked so much like Sonic. Why no one would tell him who his mom was. "It's Sonic isn't it?"

His dad froze when he said that. "What?"

"Your gay aren't you Daddy! And when Sonic died, you had to take care of me all by yourself!" Manic smiled, proud of his discovery.

He blinked. After a few seconds he started _laughing. _First he makes his dad blush and now he's laughing! Two amazing things in a five minute period.

"Think about what Rouge told you. How is that _possible?"_

Manic paused for a second. "Oh." He sighed. "Can you give me a hint as to who my mom is?"

"She's got two eyes."

"Ugh!" Manic called out in frustration. "You're not going to tell me anything!" Then he stomped out the door.

~ Sonia Acorn ~

Sonia starred up at the veil surrounding her bed, pink and shimmering in the glow of her nightlight. All of her friends were so impressed when they saw it, all saying they wished they wished they were princesses so they could have fancy king sized beds with tons of really soft pillows and sparkles everywhere.

Maybe it was cool to them, but tonight the bed felt about equally comfortable as a rock. It wasn't that she wasn't tired or had something on her mind, she just felt _incapable _of sleep. With a huff of breath, she crawled out of bed and stepped into her pink and fuzzy slippers. _It's always pink and something. _Sonia mused.

That's when she heard, simultaneously, screaming and alarms, echoing through the palace. Sonia raced outside at an incredible speed, one that people often wonder how she managed to obtain. The hallways flickered red every time the alarm rang. No one was in the halls, but the screaming got louder. She followed the screaming, running down hallway after hallway. She could hear them getting closer, getting louder, but she was still so far away from it.

"Sonia!"

"Mom!" She called back, chasing after her name being called. She was hardly aware of where she was heading. She realized she had just passed her bedroom again. She'd gone in a circle? She realized that she had left the sound of the screams to follow her mom's voice and backtracked in the process. The screams were getting quieter and quieter in the distance.

"Sonia?" It sounded like she was right next to her, but Sonia couldn't see her.

"Mom? Where are you?" She whipped around the room, looking for the voice. She felt a pair of arms around her.

"Right here honey." Her mom murmured.

Sonia looked up to see familiar blue eyes staring down at her, panic stricken. "What's going on Mommy?"

A figure appeared out of thin air. It was a dark haired human, female, standing directly in front of them. She had a grin on her face, head turned as if she was looking straight at her mother. She felt the grip around her tighten. The strange woman had no eyes. Just a hole where they belonged, outlined by a thick coat of eyeliner and two-inch long eyelashes. Sonia's heart was going double the speed it should be.

Her voice shook the room. Echoing to the ends of the castle. Shaking the planet bellow their feet.

"I am Phantasm. I am the rightful ruler of this world. Hand over the crown, Queen Sally, or the world will be destroyed."

She felt her mom fall to her knees behind her. Slowly. Subtly. As if in fear. Her voice shaking. "No. I won't." Her head was right above Sonia's ear. She whispered so quietly she wasn't sure she had heard it. "Run."

Sonia took off in the opposite direction, top speed, going so fast she was only a blur of brown as her hair flew back and her arms pumped in sync with her legs, following the path she knew lead to the entrance.

She heard people calling after her. People following her. People screaming. People she didn't recognized. Gun shots. Swords clashing. Thumps. Cracks. She kept running until she met the outside air and kept on sprinting anyways.

~ Amy Rose ~

She couldn't believe she was doing this. Shadow just had to be stupid enough to leave before she got a chance to return the helmet.

Amy considered just pretending it hadn't happened and keeping the helmet, but figured it wouldn't be right and decided to go to G.U.N. headquarters to see if she could get it back to him. She hoped she wouldn't have to talk to him. She was worried he was just in a good mood the previous night and would be mad at her. She didn't know exactly why. She's just gotten to be such a wimp over the past few years.

"Can I help you ma'am?" There was a woman sitting at the reception desk just before the front entrance. "I want to return this to a, um, friend. I think he works here."

She nodded. "What's his name? I'll make sure he gets it back." She held out her hand to take the helmet.

Amy gave it to her. "Sha-"

The floor cracked and broke open. She was flung back into the ground and slid down into a hole created from bellow her feet. She hit the ground with a thud, throbbing everywhere, feeling a burning sensation on her lower back, the area that had hit the floor.

It all happened like that. Quick, faster than you can register. One thing happens and you don't realize it did until the next thing happens. Amy had no idea what had caused it, or exactly how she ended up writhing in pain in some hole in the ground that had appeared out of no where.

But all she could do is look up above her and cry out for help. Her throat was stinging, tears threatening her. She could only hold back so long before she was crying to hard to call out anymore. Her back hurt _so _much.

~ Shadow the Hedgehog ~

Manic had barely made it out the door before the alarms went off. He called back in. "Dad! Dad? What's happening?"

"We've had drills for this, you know where to go. _Run!_" Shadow called back to him. He stayed behind for a second to make sure he had left on the correct path, before going his own direction. He wanted to find the cause and stop it rather than fleeing at the first sign of danger. He raced down the hallway until he heard a commotion going on in a room farther down the hallway. The likely area of emergency. He headed in there, seeing the room that was usually full of computers and equipment was completely empty, and replaced by G.U.N. soldiers and agents trying to fight off... Jello? It was everywhere. Clung to the walls and onto clothes. It _moved. _It seemed to be absorbing everything.

He saw Rouge was already in there, kicking at one of the creatures. It was useless, for her foot went right through it and it ate her boot. God that sounded ridiculous. So fighting would probably do more harm than good. He looked around the room. The creatures where trying to eat _everything _including everyone.

Then Shadow saw the fire alarm. It was worth a try. Shadow pulled down the handle and the sprinklers came down, soaking the room in water. At first it seemed to be doing nothing, but after a few moments Shadow realized that the creatures could only absorb so much at a time. They were all trying to absorb the water, but there was too much for them to do anything about. They started withering, and soon none of them were moving. Dead, he presumed.

Rouge looked over at him seeing him to be the one who set of the sprinklers. "Thanks."

"Hm." Shadow looked around the room. It couldn't be that easy.

A flash of light. After blinking a few times, Shadow saw that now, in the center of the room, sat a red headed woman, hunched over, eyes darting around the room. She had no mouth. Just skin, flat, where it should be. Everyone stared in silence. A whisper filled the room, as if it were the wind talking.

"I am Phantasm. I control your thoughts and your dreams. Your perception of reality. This is only the beginning. I am the new ruler of the world!"


	4. Chapter 3

**Another chapter! WOOHOO (In a very non-Sims way. You may or may not know what I'm talking about XD)! This is the longest one yet. I haven't really gone over it. I wanted to get one done by the end of today and I have other things I need to do still. **

******The last chapter I posted I wasn't very sure about, it just felt a little... I don't know... Bad? If you read my rant on the last chapter I think you get how I feel. I'm glad at least somebody liked it (I think) because I would fix it but I really can't figure out what's wrong with it. Anyways, I'm somewhat more confident about this chapter, so enjoy. I know this gets annoying, chapter after chapter, but I LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR FEEDBACK** **(hint hint).**

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Chapter 3.

Just the Beginning.

~ Sonia Acorn (Day 0) ~

Sonia had ran until she couldn't run anymore.

She wished she could go back and find her parents back at the castle, but she was already too far away and had no idea what she would find. There was a reason her mom wanted her to run away. Mostly, she feared that something bad had happened.

What exactly did happen? She wasn't paying much attention to anything. Were they under attack? _Who _was that woman? Sonia's mom seemed to be scared of her, whoever she was.

She looked around, trying to figure out where she was. Somewhere in a city. The lights where bright and the streets were filled with people and mobians. Had she travailed far from home? She had no idea of what to do or where to go. She just kept wandering around, aimlessly.

A hotel. She saw the sign bright and clear. She could just stay at one of those right? She didn't have any money, but if she asked nicely and told them about her situation, surely they would let her in for a night or two?

Her pace quickened as she changed her path towards the hotel. Inside she found a few couches scattered around the room, fancy plants and decorations were every where. There was a fireplace lit at the side of the room. Against the wall there was a counter, behind it sat a man in a green vest that read the hotel's name on it.

Sonia walked up to the desk. "Hello. I would like a room."

The man smiled. "Where's your parents?"

"Back in the castle. It's under attack and I escaped. But I need some place to stay _really _badly." Sonia explained, slightly irritated that he wasn't taking her seriously.

"I'm sorry kid, but I can't do that." He didn't even seem to believe her.

Sonia gave a huff of breath and turned around to leave. Just before she reached the door a voice called out.

"Wait!"

She looked for the source of the voice. Another boy in a green vest, although this one was considerably younger and he was an orange furred fox. With two tails, she noted.

"You're the princess aren't you?" He asked.

"Yeah."

"Hey, Mr. Willson, she's telling the truth!" The fox called out to the man behind the counter.

He shrugged. "Yeah, yeah, I'm sure. Just do your job, your shift is almost over."

The fox just sighed. "I'm Tails. Look, I'll make sure you have some place to stay, just let me finish taking this luggage up to some of the guests and I'll be done."

Sonia nodded, now noticing the two suitcases in his hands. She sat down on one of the couches and waited. Could she trust him? He did seem nice. And she doesn't have many other options. She guessed she would just have to believe him. But wasn't she not supposed to go anywhere with strangers?

Tails came back after a few moments, taking keys out of his pocket. "Okay I'm all done." He said to Sonia. "You can come back with me to my house if you need some place to stay. I'm sure no one would mind."

Sonia figured she would just have to take him up on his offer. "Okay." She followed him out the door, feeling kind of nervous, being unsure of where she was going. But the more he talked, the more she felt like she could believe him.

"I live with my friend and her mom. I had another friend who moved out a few years ago, so you could sleep in her old bedroom. We never bothered to change it after she moved out. To lazy I guess." Tails let out a light laugh. His expression grew serious after a moment of thought. "So, Princess Sonia, is the castle really under attack?"

Sonia nodded. "Yes. I'm not exactly sure what happened though. My mom told me to run so I did."

Tails seemed surprised by this. "You got all the way out here by foot? How long ago was that?"

"Maybe a few hours ago."

"Princess that's incredible!" He gawked at the information. "I haven't heard of anyone running that fast since Sonic was around! Are you sure it was only a few hours ago?"

Sonia blushed a little. "Um, yeah."

Just before they were about to get into Tails' care, the sky lit up. The stars and the moon were gone, and were replaced by an image as if it had turned into a giant TV screen. Appearing on the screen was a brunette woman with long hair and well, _no _nose. Eyes and a mouth, but in between was just flat skin. Sonia gasped at this. Her voice was robotic, like hearing one of Eggman's old robots talk.

"My name is Phantasm. I control your thoughts and your dreams. Your perception of reality. This is only the beginning. I am the new ruler of the world!"

Sonia mentally made a connection. A sinking feeling made her freeze. How? She's not even the same woman she saw at the castle.

Tails tensed up beside her, looking up at the sky as if to challenge it. "Sounds a little too familiar for my taste."

"Wha-What are you talking about?"

"Before your time, Princess." Tails murmured in response to her stuttered question. "Just don't expect her to come up, give her rant and be gone."

Screaming and shrieking in the distance proved Tails right. "Tails? What's going on?"

"I don't know." He paused for a moment, as if debating something. "But we have to go help them!"

"What?" Sonia exclaimed as Tails got in the driver's seat.

"Come on!" He called out to her.

She got in the passenger's seat still feeling uneasy. "What can are you going to do?"

"We'll just have to see when we get there!"

~ Shadow the Hedgehog ~

Shadow stared at the figure in front of him, trying to figure out his next move.

"Now that I have taken over the castle _and _G.U.N., I shall move on to Station Square!" The wind whispered around the mouth-less Phantasm.

"Taken over G.U.N. my ass!" Shadow looked over at one of the soldiers beside him who had gained the courage to oppose Phantasm. He may be stupid, but at least he had guts.

All she did was look at him and he fell to the floor, passed out. Shadow couldn't comprehend it entirely. All he could think was, _who _is_ she?_

"I've sent a creation of mine out to the downtown area of Station Square. They should get the job done nicely. Your all welcome to try and stop it. It would get you all out of my way for me."

She was gone. The room was silent, but his mind was buzzing. Should he try and stop her from taking over Station Square? But since when has he ever cared about what happens to other people. Then again, if he just lets Phantasm take over the world that would end up hurting him too in the end. But, they always managed to get through these things without him, didn't they? Although they did have Sonic before... He had to do this.

Luckily, G.U.N. was on the outskirts of Station Square, so it wouldn't take long to get there.

Shadow was off in a matter of seconds, not bothering to stop when Rouge called after him.

~ Manic the Hedgehog ~

He _was _going to escape the headquarters like his dad told him to, he swear he was, but then he heard a girl crying for help in the distance. How can he just leave a damsel in distress without a hero to save her?

He followed the sound of her voice, avoiding cracks that had split through the ground. He wondered what had caused this. He heard the cry for help again.

"Hello?" He called out, trying to pin point the voice. He was sure it couldn't be much farther.

"I'm down here!"

Manic saw a particularly wide split in the ground just a few feet in front of him. He stepped forward to look down. He saw a shadowy figure below him. "Don't worry, I'll get you out of there!" He called out to her. He really didn't know how he was going to do that though.

He looked around and saw the uplifted desk that the receptionist usually sat at. He looked through the drawers. Staplers and paper clips wouldn't help him. Neither would pencils or folders. He kept looking. A roll of duck tape might.

Manic hurried back over to the ditch. He through the tape down to her. "Put the tape around your waist and throw it back up to me."

Her voice was hoarse as she spoke. "Wait, if I do that won't it just pull my dress up and not my actual body?"

Manic blushed, realizing she was probably right. "How about your arm then?"

He couldn't see her face in the dark – not only was she in a ditch but the electricity had gone out – but soon he heard the tape unraveling. After about a minute, the tape was tossed back up to him, landing squarely in his hands.

"You have good aim." He called down to her.

"I was the pitcher on my high school baseball team."

Manic tried pulling her up, taking a step back, but it only unraveled more of the tape. He wrapped it around his own wrist so that the distance wouldn't separate more and tried again. It was difficult, but he managed to pull her up to the top of the ledge, where she pulled herself up the rest of the way.

Now that he could see her in the dim light the night gave, he recognized her as the girl that found him and his dad outside of the factory. "A-Amy?" He struggled to remember her name.

"S-Son... Manic?"

"Yeah."

"Wow. Your strong for a little guy."

Manic shrugged. "Maybe I get it from my dad. Are you okay?"

Amy's expression went from relieved, to pained, to confused. "I- Yes? My back was scraped... But I don't feel _anything _anymore."

"That's a good thing, right?"

"Yeah, I guess..."

Manic heard a loud bang from behind them, deep inside of the headquarters. "We need to get out of here."

"Yeah, we can-" Amy stopped in mid-speech as she saw the crack close up on the floor. It was like it was never there. She was about to say something, but Manic seemed not to notice and she was starting to think she was going insane.

Manic scooped her into his arms and took of running, out the door. "Your fast too." She commented, wearily, her brain pounding into her skull.

"My dad."

"Of course."

~ Miles "Tails" Prower ~

It's been a long time since Tails had ever came face-to-face with a monster of any sort. That's when he remembered how scary they can be. Like, for example, a ten foot tall cross between a toad and a dragon. All he could think was, W_hat am I going to do? What am I going to do?_

The princess was sitting in the car, a good distance away from the – Whatever that thing was!

Tails saw a mouse trying to get away from the mess, but his foot was caught under some fallen rubble.

When the monster had appeared, he must have landed in the exact spot as a building, because there were bricks and scattered glass and broke furniture scattered everywhere. It appeared to be unable to move, however. It's legs seemed melted into the ground.

He ran over to the orange furred mouse, using his tails to propel him faster. Quickly helping lift the debris off of him, the mouse escaped with a quick nod of thanks. Tails turned back around just in time to see a couple of bricks being hurled at him by the monster. He ducked just in time. Much, much too close for comfort.

Tails continued to dodge the rubble being thrown at him, the monster now appearing aware of him. He flew up above, making it easier to move around. He had to come up with some way to stop it. After avoiding a few more well aimed shots, he heard a voice down from below. "Chaos Control!"

He felt something flash by, and the monster growled – in a very scary fashion, he might add – and flung his head backwards. It was as if something had just hit him at an incredibly fast speed. Tails realized that whoever activated Chaos Control had slowed down time for themselves.

After a few seconds, he saw a figure standing on a roof, about level to where Tails was hovering. "Shadow!" It's been a long time since he's seen _him._

He didn't even look his way. He struck again, this time without the help of Chaos Control. The creature growled again, but seemed to have received a lot less damage.

Tails landed back on the ground, leaving Shadow to himself. He wouldn't have been much help anyways. There had to be some way he could help. He examined the monster. It didn't seem to have any obvious weaknesses, and it was wearing down Shadow fast. He was so used to looking for weak points in robots. Like power sources or antennas. But this was a living thing, it seemed, there was no place you can just hit and it'll blow up.

He needed to think. What can destroy something in an instant? He could probably drown him in water, if that were _possible _in it's current position. Starvation was much to slow. It's skin seemed to have strong armor, so any physical damage wouldn't help... Electrocution? If only there was some way...

There were power-lines along side the road. But the monster doesn't move. So how can he get it to touch the wire? If it reaches it's arms out far enough, it'll touch them.

Shadow fell back to the ground beside Tails after about the tenth strike. "It's not doing much damage!" He growled in frustration.

"Shadow! If you can make it touch the power-lines then maybe-"

"Your right." Shadow leaped back into the air, but instead of slamming into it, he landed on top of it's head. It tried shaking him off, but Shadow clung on for another moment, before jumping out in front of it. It reached it's arm out to swipe at Shadow, and just like he had planned it swung right into the power-lines.

Shadow landed on the debris filled road on the other side, landing on his knees and sliding across the pavement, right through shattered glass.

Tails was about to run over to him, but was distracted as he watched the monster... Disappear? It just faded away. It was there... And then it wasn't. He looked over at Shadow but immediately flinched away, seeing his blooded knees. But then he looked back at Shadow. There was nothing but unbroken skin. The ground was suddenly free of rubble. The buildings were in one piece. Where the creature had been, a building sat.

Everything was fixed.

Tails now noticed the crowd that had been watching them. How they all were cheering and chanting and whistling and clapping. All for _Shadow. _

He remembered how Sonic would sometimes get this reception after a battle. Everybody was so glad to have their hero, felt safe as long as he was around. But now it's Shadow. Shadow, their hero? Odd thought, but after that last act, it almost did seem to fit. But unlike Sonic, Shadow didn't stick around for the glory.

Tails didn't know where he disappeared to, but his mind was still buzzing from the previous events. Was he the only one who thought it was strange that everything was back to normal. With a flash or realization, he remembered the words the woman spoke, the one who shown her picture in the sky. "My name is Phantasm. I control your thoughts and your dreams. Your perception of reality."

That couldn't all have been... Fake? He couldn't _possibly _have imagined that... Could he?

Tails suddenly remembered that the princess was back in the car, waiting for him. Feeling slightly guilty for leaving her in there for so long, Tails flew over the crowd and back to his car somewhere behind the mess.

He managed to force his way into the car and honked a few times so that people would move out of his way. _Eventually, _they did and Tails pulled away and started to drive home.

The princess was quiet the entire time. Tails wasn't even sure if she saw the fighting, but she defiantly looked like she was contemplating something.

After a few minutes, they pulled up outside of his house. "Come on. Your probably tired after all that running, huh?"

Sonia nodded wearily as Tails broke her from her thought. They walked up the porch and Tails unlocked the door. Immediately, Tails was pulled into a worried hug from Vanilla. "I was so worried about you! Why were you out so late? Did you see the-"

Tails let out a slight smile. "Everything's fine. Yes we saw _everything. _I was going to try fighting the monster-" Vanilla's eyes widened at the though "-_but _Shadow came and helped defeat it."

"Shadow? Oh, that black and red hedgehog?" Vanilla asked, disapproving.

"Yeah. He's gone now, I don't know where." Tails shrugged. "And _this _is Princess Sonia. The castle was under attack too, I guess. She ran all the way here, and she stopped by the hotel looking for a place to stay. The manager didn't recognize her though, and she was about to leave when I saw her. I was hoping she could stay here for a night or two until she figures things out? She could sleep in Amy's old bedroom."

Vanilla looked down at the Princess, as if she hadn't noticed she was there. "Oh! Of course, she can stay! The only problem is that Amy is staying the next few days."

"It's fine Vanilla, I can sleep on the couch." He looked over at Amy who must have came in through the kitchen while they were talking.

The princess spoke up. "I can sleep on the couch, it is your bed after all."

"No, no, it's fine."

"Amy, why are you staying here?" Tails asked.

She shrugged. "Vanilla didn't think it was safe for me to be alone with that crazy woman running around."

Cream came running into the scene, immediately wrapping Tails into a hug. "I am so glad you're okay!"

Tails leaned down to kiss her. "Everything's fine Cream. You didn't have to worry."

Cream blushed, mostly because he had kissed her in front of her mom. Tails knew that Vanilla didn't care as long as it didn't go past light pecks on the lips, but Cream always got embarrassed anyways.

After releasing him she looked beside him at the tired looking princess. "Is that, Princess Sonia?"

She nodded. "You guys can all call me Sonia if you want. I'm not going to have your head cut off for not calling me Princess or anything."

They all nodded with understanding and began settling down. Vanilla made a late dinner, and but no one seemed to be hungry. They all began to separate into their rooms and Amy made her bed on the couch. Tails was relieved to finally end the long night and soon drifted to sleep.

~ Amy Rose (Day 1) ~

Amy laid on the couch, staring up at the familiar ceiling that she had lived under for all of her teenage years. The familiarity of the room didn't make up for the thoughts buzzing through her mind, still entirely awe struck at the events from earlier that night. Falling into a ditch, being saved by Son- Manic, watching the crack close up before her eyes, being taken back to her house by S- Manic just in time to receive a worried phone call from Vanilla. Now here she was. It's two in the morning and Amy still couldn't sleep after the day's events. She usually had a problem sleeping, she couldn't really understand it, but it was starting to get ridiculous.

She saw a light turn on in the hallway. Some one else was up. She saw the princess walk in the room, her eyes tired but determined.

"Amy? I need to ask you something."

"Yeah, what is it?" She asked, sitting up.

"I hope I didn't wake you." Sonia sat down, a little awkwardly, in the loveseat to the left of the couch. Amy shook her head, so she continued. "That woman – The one that everyone is talking about – What do you know about her?"

"Oh, uh, not much. I didn't even see her little announcement she made in the sky that everyone was talking about."

"Her name is Phantasm. She controls your thoughts and your dreams. Your perception of reality. I've heard of a group called the Freedom Fighters, existing during a war years ago. Amy, rebuild the Freedom Fighters and live up to your name."

Amy was stunned by the princess' idea. "Me?"

She nodded. "It took a moment for me to recognized you, but eventually I did. You, Tails and Cream, your all friends of the famous Sonic right? You even helped him with the most difficult tasks. I learned about you in school. You're known for you're skill with the piko-piko hammer and you're persistence, Tails for his technology skills and his ability to fly and Cream and Cheese for being the ultimate team. If you can find a few more people, I'm _sure _you could stop Phantasm. She took over my _home _and she isn't going to stop there."

Amy suddenly felt the weight of the day coming down on her, felt so tired she could pass out then and there, felt so pained and confused. "I... I don't even know what a freedom fighter is."

"A long time ago during a different war there were a group of people who decided to try and regain control over the kingdom. I can look up more information later, what I learned from the lesson is a little hazy. Just promise me you'll try? I can't stand seeing this..."

"You're mature for you're age." Amy commented and then sighed. "Okay, I'll do it. Who am I to say no to a princess, anyways?"

Her eyes lightened. "Really?"

Amy nodded, really only wanting to sleep. They would probably end up fighting against Phantasm anyways, wouldn't they? Giving themselves a name won't do any harm. The princess might even forget about it by the morning, who knows?

Sonia, with her spirit lightened, walked back to the bedroom leaving Amy to peace. Freedom fighters? Interesting name. Her mind drifted away into sleep without any more struggle.


	5. Chapter 4

**It's been a long time I know. I was kind of stuck. I was at point A and I wanted to get to point B but I had no idea how. I have all kinds of things in mind that I want to have happen, but I have no idea how to get there. I think I messed up somewhere in the last two chapters. But anyways, it's too late now and I have an idea. So here you go! Hopefully you won't get too bored. I know it sucks when stories go too long without any sign of romance, but I don't think it's realistic to jump into that just yet. I promise, it'll be an important part of the story later on.**

**Well that's all I have to say this time. Shorter than usual, huh? XD Actually, the whole chapter is shorter than usual!**

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Chapter 4.

Medicine.

~ Shadow the Hedgehog (Day 1) ~

Just as he had thought. No actual damage was done to G.U.N. headquarters. It just _seemed _like it. Phantasm fooled us all.

The thought was scary even to Shadow, as he wondered what else she could do. Could she change reality or change what we think reality is? It was hard to figure out. He couldn't have imagined the battle from earlier, could he? Otherwise he would have fell through that – Whatever that thing was. Unless he only _thought _that he had jumped. What if he never moved one step the entire battle? Not possible. Well, none of this seems to be, really.

Why would she give her creations weaknesses anyways? If she can control our minds then wouldn't they be unbeatable? Maybe she's not as everyone seems to think she is. She comes out, gives her little speech, sends out some feeble minions and thinks she rules the world? But she had done nothing but scared them all. Made them think something was wrong, when nothing was. Nothing is changed. No destruction. No change in behavior, other than fright shown by those who don't understand the situation. Shadow could think of a lot worse things that Phantasm could have done with her said power.

And where did she come from? Where did she get such power? He's heard of crazier things, but still it was a good question.

All of this information and thoughts were flowing through his mind, lingering only for a few seconds. One thing was overwhelming. Above it all, only one thing seemed important.

He didn't know where Manic was.

He wasn't at the shelter. Now he would check the headquarters to see if he was still in there. Shadow approached it, abruptly coming to a halt outside of the door. What would he find in there? Whatever he saw, how would he know it was real?

Shadow pulled on the door. Locked. He would have to try a different entrance, the main one wasn't working. He took off running around the side of the building until he found a much smaller entrance. After taking his ID out and putting it in the scanner at the side of the door, as required to get into this entrance. Nothing happened. He turned the card around, pushed it in again. Nothing. Well that's just great.

There weren't any window, he can't break in. He was sure that if there where windows, they wouldn't break very easily. He didn't even bother trying to pick the lock. It was G.U.N., of course there wouldn't be any easy way to break in.

Normally he would just try using Chaos Blast to break through the door. But he had tried that last night when dealing with that... Okay, that thing really needs a name. Point is, his Chaos powers were useless against Phantasm.

He was locked out.

~ Manic the Hedgehog (Day 1) ~

He woke up. He didn't realize he was asleep. He was running back to the shelter after taking Amy back to her house. And then he woke up. There was no in-between event, no memory of even being tired.

And now he's tied up in some dark room. The floor was hard and the rope was uncomfortable, much too tight. He was hungry and somehow tired even if he had just woken up. He felt restless. He needed to move when he couldn't. He felt his feet twitching. For some strange reason he needed to run. There was water dripping in the background. Crunching noises, echoed the room. He could only imagine what it could be. It was like the sound it makes when you accidentally step on a bug.

He was cold.

He was scared.

"Of course you are, Manic."

A voice echoed through out the room, as if reading his mind. It was exactly what he would consider scary, creepy. It was exactly the kind of voice that could make him shiver with every word, make his heart sink in his chest, make his eyes widen in fear.

"Exactly Manic. That's why I have you here."

Wait. What was it talking about? Can it... Really _hear_ his thoughts?

The voice said no more. Manic was left shivering in the dark, only partially because of the cold.

~ Amy Rose (Day 4) ~

"Amy, you can't leave!" The princess grabbed Amy's arm as she was about to leave the house, suitcases in tow.

The past four days had been without disturbance from Phantasm and Vanilla decided it was safe for Amy to go home. The princess had tried to contact quite a few people from the castle but none yet had responded, including the king and queen.

"Why is that, Sonia?" Amy asked, reminding herself to call her by her first name.

"Remember your _promise?" _

She thought for a few moments. "What promise?"

Tails, Cream and Vanilla were watching with curiosity as the princess reminded her. "You said you would lead the Freedom Fighters! You haven't even started yet!"

Amy stared at the princess. She wasn't sure how to react. Sure she was just a kid, but she was also the princess. "I, uh, well, I really don't know where to start. I mean, since that day nothing really has happened."

The princess began thinking when the doorbell rang behind Amy. She turned around and opened the door. Before her stood a dark figure. Shadow. What was he doing there? She suddenly felt sick to her stomach. It wasn't that she didn't like Shadow, really. But he wasn't exactly someone she would consider her friend. She gets this way all the time. Amy had grown to become closed off, much unlike her old self.

Old self. That's what it had come to. She was someone else without Sonic.

She took in a deep breath. She wasn't going to think about it. Then wasn't the time. "Shadow, what are you doing here?"

He seemed reluctant for a moment, but eventually said. "I went to your house. You weren't there. I asked around and they told me to come here. Hope I wasn't interrupting anything? I need to talk to you."

Amy was slightly surprised. "Oh, no you weren't. Do you want to come in?" Shadow shrugged and Amy stepped back to let him in. Amy kept her eyes on him as she shut the door, watching as he looked around the room, where everyone was looking curiously at Shadow. Vanilla was glaring at him, arms crossed. Amy wasn't sure why, but Vanilla never liked him. Maybe it was the same reasons why Amy found herself uncomfortable around him.

Shadow's eyes paused on the princess. "Princess Sonia?" She nodded warily. Shadow's eyes were fixed on her for a few seconds, before looking back up at Amy. She never knew that he actually cared about royalty.

"I..." Shadow hesitated. "I need _help. _Manic disappeared. I haven't seen him since Phantasm took over G.U.N.." Shadow paused. "You were the first mobian I thought of. I just want to know if you've seen him. He did seem to like you."

Cream spoke up. "Sorry to interrupt you, Mr. Shadow, but who is Manic?" Tails nodded as if he was about to ask the same question.

Amy responded before him. "Shadow's son." Vanilla gasped. Amy continued. "Actually, I have although I don't know how helpful it would be. At that time I had gone there to return your helmet. You sped off before I could give it back. The ground split open... Manic found me and helped me. He took me back home and I haven't seen him since."

Shadow seemed to be contemplating something for a moment, when Vanilla spoke. "You're friends with Shadow?"

Amy shrugged. "We've encountered each other before."

Shadow smirked, looking slightly amused, which confused Amy. His face fell within a few seconds and he gave a sigh, barely audible. "Guess I should go then. Thanks for the help."

The princess called out. "Wait! This will be your first mission Amy!"

"What?" She replied. She had a sinking feeling that she knew what she was talking about. She found herself wondering how she was getting out of that one. She felt guilty for thinking that, but she did. She had already brought of the freedom fighting thing in front of Cream and Tails, and they both seemed to feel the same about it. It just isn't the same as it used to be.

"The first mission of the freedom fighters is to find this man's kid!" Sonia announced. "And that's an order from the princess!"

Amy looked at Tails and Cream. "You guys in?"

They exchanged a quick glance and nodded. "Sure, we'll do it." Tails said.

Amy turned back to Shadow. "Hope you don't mind."

Shadow smirked. "Can't disobey the princess now can we?"

"So where should we start Amy?" Cream asked in her polite voice. Cheese hovered just barely above her head, almost like he was resting on her head but didn't want to admit he didn't have the strength to hold himself up anymore. The chao was getting old. He's lived long enough to live the life time of two chaos, and he's lucky. Amy feared what it would do to Cream when Cheese finally passed.

"I... I think we should ask Shadow that." Amy wasn't used to having to make the decisions. "He knows his son best."

All eyes were on Shadow, and he seemed not to know either. "I wouldn't have come to you if I would have known!"

"I say we check the castle." The princess piped in.

"Why's that?" Tails asked.

"Because if Phantasm thinks she's queen, wouldn't she be at her palace?"

"Wait, you think Phantasm has Manic?" Shadow's voice was calm and steady as he spoke. Amy was starting to see the resemblance between him and Sonic. Er, she meant him and Manic. Like the shape and size of their quills, even if Shadow's was more spread out around his face instead of directly behind him. The eye shape was the same also. They had the same figure, the same muscular legs that made them so fast. Even if Shadow cheats with his shoes.

"It's possible. I say we check it out!" Tails said, excitement shinning in his eyes. Maybe he was remembering the adventures he had with Sonic. This very well could turn out like that. But how would they survive without him? Not a question. Stop thinking that.

"Alright." I announced, deciding that that's what a leader should do. "We'll leave-"

"After a good night's rest and preparations!" Vanilla interrupted. She turned, looking at Shadow. You could tell this was hard for her. "Your welcome to spend the night if you'd like to Shadow."

He took a moment to decide, but eventually nodded. "Okay."

"Where's he going to sleep, Mom? All of the bedrooms are taken and Amy's already sleeping on the couch."

"We have two couches don't we?" After a slight pause she added. "Cream or Tails will have to sleep on the couch. Of course, Shadow's our guest so he gets a bed."

"No, I'll sleep on the couch. I don't even have to sleep, really."

It took a moment to figure out what he was talking about. Ultimate lifeform. Right.

Vanilla nodded. "Okay, if you don't mind I guess you can." Funny how if it were anyone else, Vanilla would have insisted otherwise.

My stomach churned again, realizing this meant we would pretty much be sleeping in the same room tonight. Which meant time spent with him. Didn't sound too good in Amy's ears.

~ Sally Acorn ~

A good distance from the castle there was a hidden passage way into a system of tunnels. These tunnels were the temporary home of the King and Queen of mobius, along with others that had escaped from the castle.

The Queen herself sat in her bed, giving a quick cough as Dr. Quack examined her. They were alone in the room, and no one was listening in.

"Your sickness is only getting worse, Sally. Especially without the proper equipment." The doctor spoke as Sally gave a sigh.

"Yes, I've realized. But, what can be done about it?" Sally looked down at her bedsheets, hating the feeling of being bound to this room. But, Dr. Quack had told her to stay in bed and honestly, she didn't want anyone to risk seeing her this way. It would be obvious then that she was sick. Her husband already knew and that alone was hard enough. She didn't really feel too much like getting up either.

"I have a suggestion." He looked up from what he was doing. "But your not going to like it."

"What is it?" She asked, her voice hoarse.

"My Queen, you need a blood transfusion if you want to get better. Maybe a few. But in order to do that, there would have to be someone with similar enough blood to give you."

Sally sighed, knowing that there was a punchline to this. "And who do you suggest?"

"I'm sure you haven't forgotten your son? Manic, I recall."

"No! You can't!" Sally's eyes widened. "Imagine what it would do to him if he found out? What about his family? What would happen if someone _else _found out?"

"It's the only way."

Sally gave a deep breath that turned into a cough. "Fine. I'll _think _about it."

The doctor went back to his work. "Can I take that as a yes?"

"Won't you anyways?"


	6. Chapter 5

**Another chapter up! I guess this chapter doesn't really have anything important in it, but I guess it's a chance to get to know the characters better? Also, it's the first time Shadow shows interest in Amy. I have a major event coming up pretty soon, only I think it might be suspected. If not suspected, at least not surprising... But then again, maybe it will be because you've probably dismissed the idea at this point... Nevermind I'm probably giving it away just talking about it! We'll see when we get there!**

**Anyways, I think it's going to slow down how often I post chapters when school starts again, so I'm going to try and get as much up as possible the next few days. I have today, tomorrow, and the 31st free to write so maybe two or three chapters? Possibly four. It depends on my mood the next few days. **

**Oh, and I'm getting better with chapter names, don't you think? The ones for 1-3 sucked XD**

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Chapter 5.

Drained.

~ Miles "Tails" Prower (Day 4) ~

Tails plopped down on the couch across from Shadow. Amy was taking a shower, she wouldn't be out for another 5 minutes, maybe longer, knowing her. Which left him with that much time to speak with Shadow and ask him a few pressing questions.

"Do you think you'll be comfortable there for the night?" Tails asked, trying to start the conversation out simple. If he pissed Shadow off too soon none of his questions will get answered.

"Yes, this is fine." He responded, already laying back, staring up at the ceiling as he spoke.

"Okay, good." He decided to start with a less personal topic, although he had more pressing questions. "So, what did Amy mean when you've encountered before?"

Shadow turned his head to look at Tails, his crimson eyes unwelcoming, although he was sure that was out of habit. "We've come across each other once before. She was out jogging or something. It was late so I offered to take her home. That's about it."

"Manic was with you?"

"Why?" Shadow asked, slightly accusing. He was already starting to see he was protective when it came to the topic of his son. This would make it difficult.

"Nothing! Just curious. I was kind of wondering who his mother was. I didn't know you had a girlfriend or anything." Tails had a feeling this wasn't going to go over very well with him. But might as well find out as much as he can.

"How would you know?" Shadow turned back towards the ceiling. "Haven't seen her in years. Doesn't matter."

Maybe it was a sore subject for Shadow? Tails assumed that was the case. Shadow seemed to be too young to have any kids, but then again wasn't he ageless? He was like fifty something years old. Sixty something at this point. Despite the fact that the majority of that time he was in suspended animation. But wouldn't it be weird when Manic was in his twenties and Shadow was still, physically, somewhere between eighteen and twenty?

Tails opened his mouth to speak again but then Amy came out, her fur in clumps because of the water, pressed against her skin. Her spines drooped down more that usual, making them look longer, and her hair was already pushed back with a hairband. If you could call it hair. What most mobians call hair is mostly an overgrowth of fur, similar to hair on humans but not quite the same. She wore a white tee-shirt and red and black plaid pajama bottoms. She carried two blankets with her, one of them being the comforter from her bed back at her house.

He glanced back at Shadow who had propped himself up on his elbows and watched as she walked in the room. His eyes had lightened up slightly and his expression somehow wasn't as cold, although he still wore a straight face. Tails couldn't help starting to feel a little protective of Amy, seeing Shadow's reaction. He couldn't help it, he had lived with her for so many years it was almost like she was his sister. Almost. It didn't feel the same as it did with Sonic, where sometimes he would even forget they weren't really brothers.

Amy caught his eye with a nervous smile. "Hey, Shadow."

"Amy." He leaned back down on the couch, that being his only word of greeting.

Tails gave Amy a shrug, and stood up, giving Amy her couch.

Amy flashed another weak smile, the only kind she gave anymore, and looked over a Shadow who was laying with his eyes closed, but obviously not yet asleep.

"Don't you want a blanket?" Amy asked, holding up the second blanket.

"No, I'm fine." He murmured, blinking his eyes open.

Amy tossed the other blanket beside him. "What, you don't get cold either? It's 20 degrees outside and the heater's broken." She plopped down on the couch and wrapped herself in her own blanket, looking slightly annoyed.

Shadow pulled the blanket she had thrown beside him up off the floor. "Since you just can't stand the thought of me getting cold." He rested his eyes on her, smirking, just long enough the see her give a frustrated grunt and turn over, and then returned his gaze to the ceiling.

Realizing he was still standing there, Tails muttered, "Goodnight," before heading out to his own room.

~ Manic the Hedgehog (Day 5) ~

It seemed like he had spent years locked in this cell. He was beginning to give up hope of ever leaving. He was cold, hungry, thirsty and tired. The thing was, he didn't understand why.

There was water, he was given plenty. More than he would usually drink under normal circumstances. It was dirty and it smelt funny, but it was water. He would chug down glass after glass but he was always left just as thirsty as he was before he started drinking it. It felt like he wasn't drinking anything at all. His throat had been burning for so long it was to the point he thought he would have died from thirst by now. It felt that bad, too. The same goes for food. He could feast on the stale bread and odd tasting soup he was given, but he was left unchanged.

In fact, it even felt like he hadn't slept in days. He had slept plenty, after he had calmed down slightly, but he would wake up tired. The process was exactly like with the water. He could sleep and sleep but he was always tired. When he was awake his eyelids felt like thousand pound weights and he could barely stand to think.

He couldn't understand what was going on and he didn't want to. He just wanted to get out of this place. Why hasn't his dad come to save him yet?

"Your dad can't save you Manic." That voice. It never failed to send shivers down his spine.

"Shut up," He hissed under his breath. He knew at this point the voice couldn't hurt him, even if it was creepy.

"He can't save you because he's dead."

He could barely comprehend what she was saying. Too many distractions. Hungry. Tired. Cold. Somewhere he found the energy to think. His dad was dead? Is the voice just telling him things? He knew the voice could hear him wonder this.

"Your dad isn't who you think he is."

What, he has a secret identity? Or is who I think he is his secret identity? Or maybe he has some other hidden secret that- Wait, why should he believe the voice anyways?

There was a moment of silence, and Manic was sure the voice was gone. For now, at least.

~ Amy Rose ~

Amy's eyes blinked open as a result of the sun hitting them. There weren't any curtains in the living room. There really needed to be. It was too early to get up, the sun was only just rising. She closed her eyes again and turned over, but as tired as she was she wasn't going to be able to get back to sleep.

She flipped herself back around and glanced over to where Shadow was sleeping, forgetting that he was there. She saw him already looking at her, awake, the blanket he had hastily thrown on himself on the floor again. She kept looking at him for a moment, her mind too sluggish to think properly. An image flashed through her mind, imagining it being Sonic sprawled out on the couch, his easy going smile stretched on his face, his eyes simply happy, the way they usually were.

"Uh, good morning, Amy." Shadow seemed to be a little uncomfortable, which made Amy flush, thinking it was because she was staring at him.

She sat up and stretched, pretending like that hadn't happened. "Good morning, Shadow."

Not another word was spoken before a scream echoed through the house. Cream. Amy took off running towards he bedroom, hearing Shadow follow behind her.

"Cream, Cream, what is it?" Amy called out, storming into her room. She saw Tails already in there sitting beside Cream at the foot of her bed, both staring at the head of her bed.

Amy's eyes trailed over to where they were looking. A pink... bubble?

"It's Cheese!" Cream exclaimed. "It just... Surprised me that's all. I forgot about the reincarnating thing."

Amy's memory skipped back to when Cheese became an adult chao. The blue bubble that wrapped around him.

"What are you talking about?" Shadow asked, his eyes narrowing slightly as he stared at the figure.

The pink started fading away and a chao egg shown in it's place.

"Cheese is Cream's chao. He just died... But since Cream treated him right in his previous life, he gets to be born again."

Tears rolled down Creams face as she picked up the chao egg and cradled it in her arms. Tails put an arm around her and asked, "What's wrong? He didn't die, Cream, he's okay."

"But, what if he's a different chao? What if he's not the same."

"Cream, you know he'll be the same. It'll be like raising him all over again."

"What if he grows up differently though?"

Amy backed out, deciding it was best we left Cream and Tails to talk it out. It kind of hurt. Cream had been her best friend years ago. The closest one she had. But not long after they all moved in together, her attention was turned to Tails. But, of course, Amy was happy for them. It would be selfish if she wasn't.

She headed into the kitchen, once again hearing Shadow behind her. "Do you have to follow me everywhere?"

"And what do you suppose I do?" Shadow retorted. "Go back in the living room and sit there? It's your house and it's not even like I know where anything is."

Amy thought for a second. "Sorry. Do you want breakfast?" Her voice came out as a grumble as much as she tried to sound like she had meant it.

"Yes, I would, thank you." He smirked. It seemed as though he smirked as often as Sonic gave his trademark grin.

"Okay..." Amy looked in the pantry for something to eat. It had been a while since she's been here, but usually they had cereal or something. She saw a box of it and pulled it out. "Is this okay?"

Shadow nodded, grabbing milk out of the fridge since it was right behind him.

Soon, they found themselves at the kitchen table, eating in silence.

"So, uh, you don't have much experience with chao then?" Stupid question. Of course he doesn't, I mean come on, he's Shadow.

Shadow looked up, apparently having been in deep though. "Hm? Oh, no, I haven't."

"Sorry, for interrupting you're thoughts." Amy murmured, sheepishly.

Shadow smirked. Again. It fell after a few seconds and he finally replied after scooping up a spoonful of cereal. "I was just thinking about Manic."

Amy remembered the whole reason he was here in the first place. "Yeah, I bet that's gotta be tough." She realized her voice sounded fake, when she had sincerely meant it. Stupid awkwardness. Where had it come from?

"So, what's with that freedom fighter stuff the princess was talking about?"

Amy shrugged. "She wanted us to help out with anything we can. Guess Phantasm's got her scared. She's not showing it though. She is brave. I mean, to have to leave her family and her home. She can't even find anyone from the palace."

"Yeah, guess she gets it from her dad." Shadow smirked again, this time confusing Amy.

"The King is pretty brave, I guess."

Vanilla came wearily into the kitchen. "Good morning. Everyone's up early today. Even Cream. Although, it's too bad about Cheese. Hopefully the new Cheese is like the old one."

Amy gave a polite smile in response. So she's heard already. "How long until he hatches again, do you think?"

"Maybe a day or so. Chao don't usually take too long."

The princess came bouncing into the room, her eyes full of excitement. "Is everyone ready? Where's Cream and Tails?"

Tails entered the kitchen next, saying. "I don't think Cream wants to go."

"Aw, why not?"

"Cheese reincarnated. She wants to be there when he hatches." He shrugged. "So what time are we leaving?" He looked at Amy. She was slightly surprised he was already thinking of her as the leader, since she wasn't even leader-like personality wise. But then again, Tails has almost always looked up to someone else.

"Um, well, I guess whenever we're all ready. We're just taking a trip up to the castle to see if we find anything, right? So what do we need to take and how are we going to get there?"

"The X-Tornado is probably the best way to get there." When everyone in the room gave Tails a blank look, he added, "A few years ago I decided to upgrade the Tornado. I'm not really sure why. I just like building things. It seats more people, for one thing. We'll all be able to fit. Plus, more storage room."

Amy nodded. "Alright. We should take a few bottles of water, some food, a blanket or two... Hm, what else? It's been so long."

"Did you really ever bring all that with you_ before?_" Shadow seemed skeptical. "Before" obviously meaning before Sonic died.

Tails nodded. "It wasn't really Sonic's idea to bring it all, but, it was useful in the long run."

Shadow seemed slightly surprised at this. It didn't show much on his face, but Amy was getting better at reading his emotions. This made Amy slightly annoyed. He must think he's invincible. She supposed he is, in a way. But not entirely.

"I think I know what you left off of the list." Vanilla chimed in. "The first aid kit."

"Oh, right!" Tails exclaimed, once again his eyes filling with excitement at the thought of a new adventure.

~ Shadow the Hedgehog ~

Shadow stood back, leaning against the X-Tornado, a long but narrow plane, as he watched Amy and Tails say their goodbyes to Cream, her mother and Sonia.

Cream had the chao egg inside of a cinch bag, which she had been carrying around since he'd seen her this morning. She had Tails wrapped up in a tight goodbye hug, like they would never see each other again. Shadow struggled to hold back his irritation. If he would've known it would take this long, he would have just went by himself.

Amy was saying goodbye to Vanilla, in her shy way. She wasn't the same girl he remembered from all those years ago. Not that he knew her very well. Today she wore a red and white sweatshirt with dark rinse jeans rather than a dress or skirt like she usually wore. Her hair and quills where all tied back in a messy pony tail and she wore hardly any make up. So simple, but somehow all the more... beautiful.

He quickly turned his gaze towards Tails, who released Cream, _finally. _They called out to each other one last time and Tails started walking towards the plane, only to be caught in Cream's embrace once again. This really was a waste of time. They needed to go, _now. _There are _much _more important things to be doing, like, maybe carrying out the damn mission and find his son?

Amy walked over to Cream and Tails and split them apart with an amused smile on her face. "Alright you two, we need our pilot." Kinda funny how if Shadow would have done that, the response wouldn't have been nearly the same.

"Alright, let's go." Tails with an excited grin. There were four seats, so there would be plenty of room for him, Amy and Tails... and Sonia?

"Sonia's going?" Shadow asked. He couldn't imagine someone so young going into territory of a potentially dangerous enemy. Even if he was referring to the Sonia, Manic was in mind. They were both only nine years old. He just couldn't imagine Manic going with him to do something like this, exploring the abandoned factory with him had turned out to be risking enough.

Sonia gave him a glare. "Of course, I am! It was _my _idea."

"I know, but..." Shadow struggled to find away to put this. It wouldn't do to just straight up say she was too young. He knew that would only get Manic more upset and he was already pretty sure that Sonia was even more stubborn.

There was another thought, it had been at the back of his mind for a while now. What if Manic and Sonia ended up meeting each other? It wouldn't make a difference, would it? There is no physical resemblance between the two, as hard as it was to believe. Except Sonia did have her father's eyes... But they have no way of knowing who their real father is, do they?

"I think Sonia is more than capable of helping out on the mission. I was eight when I was helping Sonic defeat Eggman." Tails pointed out in his still child-like voice, although it was considerably deepened. He no longer sounded like a girl, at least.

"You were also a_ genius."_

"Cream was six."

Shadow sighed in defeat, climbing into the seat farthest to the back. There was no point in delaying this anymore. Let's just do this a be done.

Although, he had a sinking feeling it wouldn't be nearly that easy.


	7. Chapter 6

**AHH! It's been forever! I'm sorry (for those who actually were waiting for the next chapter)! **

**But I haven't stopped writing. I started a new story. It's going to be an epic, so it won't be posted until I finish it completely. It's SonAmy, sorry ShadAmy fans. ShadAmy will be featured in it, though I don't think you'd like the circumstances. I'm 10,000 words into it but I'm no where close to done DX I can't figure out how to divide it into chapters and still make it flow. It just all has to come at once. **

**Anyways, this chapter will probably be disappointing for the wait I made you go through. I realized how cliche it probably is. I want to rewrite it, but I think it's too late at this point. Sigh. Well, I hope you like it anyways. Next chapter is important!**

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Chapter 6.

Reminisce.

~ Amy Rose (Day 5) ~

Amy struggled to maintain her balance as she leaped down from the plane, now landed a good distance away from the castle's main gate. Her legs threatened to give out from under her and she had to grab onto one of the X-Tornado's slim wings for balance.

She watched as Shadow jumped down beside her, landing firmly on the ground without any sign of struggle. Amy wondered how he did it with his shoes, constantly gliding over the ground. How did he never fall or lose balance? Even if he was born – er, created wearing those shoes, you'd think he would have a little trouble some times. Most mobians couldn't even balance that well on their feet, let alone skates.

Somehow, the observation reminded her of Sonic. How she's never seen him trip or stumble in her life and how his feet have never failed him. How he could gracefully sweep away ten of Eggman's robots without ever having to touch the ground.

Amy seems to have been thinking about Sonic a whole lot lately. It only takes her a moment to realize it's Shadow who reminds her of him. In a lot of ways, they were polar opposites. But there was _something _about him that made her heart waver with the memory of the blue hero. She couldn't decide if that was good or bad.

She was brought back from her thoughts when Tails asked if everyone was ready. Amy nodded wearily in response. "Just one question. What do we do now?"

Although the question was directed at Tails, the princess spoke up. "Why don't we just go in see what we find?"

Everyone exchanged glances and eventually nodded, slightly reluctant to listen to the suggestions of a nine year old. But, if we could trust all of Tails' inventions when he was eight years old, including riding in the Tornado, which could have been the end of our lives if it faltered, let alone let him pilot it, then who were they to not fully consider the princess' suggestions because she's only nine?

Everyone heads towards the castle, the princess walking beside Tails in the front, Amy just slightly behind them and Shadow trailing farther back. He wasn't being slow or anything, he just likes to keep to himself. At least, that's what Amy assumes. She really didn't want to look back at Shadow, risking eye contact.

"I made this a while back to help Sonic get into Eggman's bases. Pretty much it can unlock the gate for us and anything else, as long as the lock is controlled through an computer. Like a code or password. If it requires and actual key or if it's a dial lock, I can't really help you." Tails explained as we approached the gate.

"I have my own tricks to get in those." Amy heard Shadow's voice from behind her in his constant no nonsense tone.

There's a little box outside of the gate with a key pad and a place for it to scan someone's fingerprint. "Can't Sonia just unlock the gate?" Amy asked.

"I never knew the pass code." She shrugged.

Tails added, "Phantasm would have changed the code by now anyways."

"Why wouldn't she just make it so that no one could get in?" Shadow mused, now standing beside Amy. She heard his voice right in her ear and even felt his breath as he came up beside her. He wasn't standing that close, was he? Again, that odd familiar feeling came. His voice somehow reminded her of Sonic, even if it was deeper and cold. It almost seemed like Shadow would sound just like Sonic if he lightened his voice up. She was sure she was imagining things now.

Amy was so distracted by Shadow, fighting the urge to look at him, that she didn't realize what was happening around her until the gate snapped open and Tails was detaching the wires from the box.

The continued walking towards the castle until confronting a small doorway. Rather than an oversized wooden door like portrayed in movies and books, there was a normal sized door made out of steel. After examining the lock, Tails announced that it required a key to open.

Shadow stepped forward, without saying anything, and started fumbling with the lock. Amy really couldn't see what he was doing, but in a few moments the door slid open and everyone wore surprise on their faces.

"How'd you do that?" The princess asked, clearly surprised anyone could break into her home so easily.

Shadow shrugged a glided forward. Maybe it was something he learned at G.U.N. over the years. Maybe Rouge. Amy could only assume that she was good at that kind of stuff.

They had only traveled a few steps into the room before a figure rose up from the floor. She had dark black hair and empty blue eyes. No mouth. Amy had never seen Phantasm before, but she was having a strange feeling this was her.

"You again." The wind booms in our ears, as if saying the words.

"I was just going to say the same thing." Shadow looks squarely in her seemingly blind eyes. Was that her speaking?

"It was about time you showed up. I suppose you're here for Manic?" An image appeared beside her. Manic. Tied up and bloodied. Tired. Lost a few pounds. Fur uneven and ruffled. His eyes... They lost the childish curiosity and excitement they contained before.

Tails gasped. "S-Sonic?"

"Manic." Amy felt her voice shake. He was such a cute little boy. How could she do... _this? _Even Eggman never wanted to hurt anyone, as ironic as that is.

"Blue eyes." Tails commented, searching for evidence this was not, in fact, his dead brother.

Amy felt Shadow tense at her side. She imagined the expression on his face, but didn't dare look at him.

"Here's the deal. You can have your son back, I have no use for him other than getting your attention. You have two options. Surrender to me and all of your lives will be spared in days to come. Don't surrender, and you will become enemy number one. You all will suffer."

Everyone is quiet. They're waiting for Shadow's reply. He would make the choice. It was his kid, he was the one who's stakes were highest.

"I would rather fight you every day for the rest of my life than surrender to you." He spoke finally, his words echoing Amy's thoughts.

Everyone stood as still as stone, waiting for her response, wondering if she had meant her words.

"Fine, do it the hard way. You can have Manic back if you can find him _and _survive."

Phantasm was gone with the blink of an eye.

"We'll split up. Amy with me. Sonia with Tails." Shadow was already starting to walk forward, before Amy even registered had happened. She could see even from behind him how determined he was. That familiar wave passed through Amy, leaving her struggling to let go of her memories of the blue hedgehog. This was happening more and more often.

Tails stopped Shadow. "No. _I'll _go with Amy."

Amy couldn't understand what was going on between them as she saw Tails staring Shadow down, waiting for him to speak. "Fine. Doesn't make a difference to me."

She followed Tails down a corridor, not speaking until they were far enough away that no one could hear them. "What was that about?"

Tails only shrugged in response.

Amy dismissed the subject. Maybe he just didn't like Shadow, remembering what he was like years ago. They turned a corner into a narrow hallway.

Tails finally spoke. "I just don't like the way he looks at you. That's all."

"How does he look at me?" It took her a moment to figure out what he was talking about.

"Doesn't matter. This place is so huge, how are we ever going to know where to start?" Tails looked around the castle, examining the area. "It's so eery isn't it? They must fix it up for TV or something. Or..." He didn't finish the statement, but Amy didn't have to guess at what he was going to say. Phantasm.

~ Sally Acorn ~

Honestly, Sally wondered how she survived the past ten years. It seemed like it was his fault she was sick in the first place; Just his presence made her want to throw up.

That might be harsh. She's learned to like him, at the very least. But it was Sonic she had loved. Not that she would have a choice even if this arranged marriage hadn't taken place.

"I overheard Dr. Quack talking to General D'Coolette's son earlier, my queen."

Sally had given up trying to convince him that wasn't her name. He wouldn't believe it if she waved her birth certificate in his face. His jaw was hard and his eyes cold. He was raised to be her ideal husband, which she supposed meant that he would have to be emotionless and dull.

Over the years, they _had _grown close enough to at least confine some things to each other. It wasn't as if they never talked. Sally had given it her best effort for them to become good friends with him at the least. He had explained his life to her, how since the day he was born – two years after Sally's own birth – he was constantly given pictures of her and was being told how amazingly wonderful she was. This, he admitted, caused a great disliking of her over the years. While other kids were learning to count, he was busy learning about every aspect of the kingdom and had completely memorized the castle and all of it's hidden passageways and rooms by the age of seven. Something even Sally hadn't done, being raised in the palace herself. By the time he was fifteen he was apparently deemed suitable to become the king and the wedding was planned before they had even met. He had mastered the use of both sword and gun. He was an expert in battle strategy and knew every tactic of how to "correctly" rule the kingdom.

When Sally met him, he was just a boy. Maybe two years wasn't that much of a difference, but at the time he seemed to have been even younger than fifteen. Worst of all, shortly after the engagement was announced, Sally's father had died from a heart attack. Before she even had a chance to recover from her grief, she was told she needed to fulfill the duty she had been hoping would be ignored.

It was some stupid rule. The same person who came up with the arranged marriage law for sure. Every king has to have a successor. But with them, there was no successor. They had been the successor, ready to take action for when Sally's father died. But neither of them were ready for that. Especially not him, he was so young, younger than he looked because he was raised a man. How could they force him into it? He didn't want to have kids and honestly didn't want what would have to happen in order for that. But everyone in the palace was pressuring them and soon Sally decided she would have to do something about it. She didn't know how she would get away with it, really, but she guessed it had worked. She wasn't going to force him to be a dad, she decided. She would take care of it herself. He wouldn't have to have anything to do with it, he had enough on his mind being the youngest king in over two hundred years.

Sally had been seeing Sonic in private for a while by then. She wouldn't exactly call it going out. He had other girlfriends and Sally, of course, had the arranged marriage. But they cared about each other... a lot, maybe. It wasn't that whole "friends with benefits" thing either. Sonic was above that. But maybe they acted as a little more than friends at times. When things got too close or too personal Sonic would always stop her. Tell her it wasn't right. Remind her of whoever he was dating at the time. Say they were from two different worlds. He even said he just couldn't tie himself down to one girl, once, but Sally could understand that. The words served a different meaning with him.

Sally had confined to him the situation and explained her idea. It took a while but he agreed. Mostly because he couldn't stand the thought that someone so young would be forced into not only marriage but ruling the kingdom. His reasoning was the same as her's. He wouldn't let this be any harder on him.

So years pass and she still pretends that she doesn't have a son and that Sonia isn't the daughter of a legendary hero. Sally was surprised that he never asked her how she did, in fact, become pregnant. But about a year ago he confined to her his theory that he had found a donor and she went along with it. It wasn't far off.

Now Sally stares into the eyes of the twenty-four year old man who looks as if he's lived forty. She feels incredibly weak, but not weak enough to call it her dying moments. As if her condition was bad enough, her beloved daughter was missing and some woman had taken over the kingdom without inflicting even the slightest bit of damage. "Yes, what about it?"

"You." He sat down at the edge of her bed, the one they mutually knew she would die in. "They're sending him out to find some kid who has blood close enough to help you. Why would they send him out unauthorized?"

"I'm sorry. I gave him permission. I forgot to tell you, I guess."

"We don't have anyone to spare! He served an important roll in taking care of ourselves down here! If we did, someone would have gone out to look for Sonia by now."

"Well, I guess I was wrong when I was thinking my life was worth anything..." Her voice became a murmur as she realized what she was saying would only anger him further.

But he only gave her a long stare before turning around and swinging his cape behind him as he headed out the door.

~ Amy Rose ~

The place was full of death traps. Not that Amy expected any less. Venomous snakes, holes in the floor, walls closing in, fire, electricity. Both her and Tails had managed to escape everything until now, because here they were, pinned up to a wall by a knight that had appeared out of a supplies closet. They were hanging by the threads of their shirts and the knight held two more swords in each of his hands.

This felt a little familiar some how. Amy was thinking about how Phantasm needed to become more original because evil speeches and death traps just aren't making her stand out from the rest.

A dark figure appeared in the corridore. _Yup, this should be the part where the damsel in distress gets saved. _Amy thought somewhat scornfully. A spin dash was really all it took. Wonder why Shadow didn't use his chaos abilities. He usually did.

They all stood, catching their breathes as Amy and Tails waited for their heart rates to go down. The princess trailed in after Shadow had kicked the pile of armor to the side and looked at him questioningly.

After a brief explanation and thanks from Amy and Tails, they decided to part again. Amy couldn't help staring at Shadow now, the reminisce of Sonic becoming so inexplicably strong with him around. It was all she could do to tear her gaze away.

"Wait! I wanna go with Tails! Shadow is _so _boring." The princess exclaimed, crossing her arms as if to say, "And there's no way you're changing my mind."

Shadow's expression remained unchanged, although Tails seemed defiant. "But- Alright fine. We'll switch partners."

More time passed and the death traps became more serious and more frequent. One wrong movement or turn could have an arrow shot at you or unleash a wall of lasers, making it impossible to pass that area. It made her wonder if those happened to be leading to the room Manic was trapped in, or if Manic is even here at all. And how was Tails and the princess doing? Were they even alive? It was a scary thought Amy didn't want to consider. She was hungry and tired; plenty enough to distract her.

Hours passed and they all found each other again. Tails checked his watch for the time. 3:23 pm. It's amazing how time flies when you're trying not to get killed. The princess told us the kitchen was nearby on account of our empty stomachs and lead us to a giant room that had enough appliances and storage to fully supply ten kitchens. It didn't take long to find the ingredients to make a few sandwiches, which turned out to be pretty filling.

They ate in silence as the princess excitedly filled them in about the adventures her and Tails had survived. This was nothing but a game to her. She didn't realize what was at stake. Maybe it was better that way. After she ran out of stories to tell we discussed where we have gone and where we need to go. The princess helped set at least some idea of where to go in our heads, knowing the palace better than any of us.

After a long while we all headed out again. We remained with the same teams since the princess refused to leave Tails' side.

Amy and Shadow walk slower than before, deciding that hurrying was not the best tactic.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" Amy asked wearily as they walked.

Shadow just glanced at her in response.

"Why didn't Tails want me to go with you earlier?"

Shadow took a moment to reply. "I honestly don't know."

Amy shrugged uneasily. "Something about the way you look at me?"

"What do you mean?" He glanced back at her suspiciously.

"That's what Tails said. Do you know what he meant?"

"Oh. No."

They walked in silence for a while. They found themselves retracing their steps, meaning the traps where already set off, so their travel was somewhat peaceful. The adrenaline rush was gone and Amy being thinking of Sonic again. She wasn't just remembering him now, she was daydreaming about him. Wondering what life would be like if he was still alive, Coming up with stories about how he escaped the crash. About how he's lived in secret all these years. Maybe he had amnesia. Maybe he was nursing himself back to heath all this time. She imagined him coming back to her, and admitting he loved her.

She was mad at herself for thinking of Sonic. She was wishing she could forget him and it wasn't helping that she kept doing this to herself.

It wasn't until Shadow stopped that Amy became aware of where they were. She looked forward, following Shadow's gaze and stopped dead. Blinked. Yes, it was real. Her heart stopped.

In fact, her entire body stopped working altogether.


End file.
